'Palestinian' ultimatum: Release 104 terrorists or no 'peace talks'
The PA will not engage Israel in peace negotiations if Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s government does not release 104 Palestinian Arab prisoners who have been jailed for terrorist offenses, a senior Palestine Liberation Organization official told Israel Radio on Sunday.
Qadura Fares, a veteran Fatah leader who also serves as president of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, also said that the PA will not agree to banish any of the freed prisoners to either Gaza or a foreign country.
Fares told Israel Radio that PA President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to a release of the prisoners in four stages beginning in the second month into peace negotiations with Israel that are due to resume this week in Washington. None of the prisoners are likely to be released before Eid al-Fitr, the ceremonial feast that marks the end of the holy Islamic month of Ramadan, Fares said.
Among the 104 prisoners that are likely to be released are 14 Palestinian citizens of Israel as well as six Palestinians residing in east Jerusalem. Twenty six prisoners are from Gaza and the rest originate from Judea and Samaria.What the heck is a 'Palestinian citizen of Israel'? That was a rhetorical question - I know that they mean 'Israeli Arab'. But I find it surprising that an article written by "JPost.com staff and Khaled Abu Toameh" would use the term 'Palestinian citizen of Israel.'
The 'Palestinians' are also making several claims about what they've been promised by the United States.
According to Al-Hayat, Kerry promised PA President Mahmoud Abbas that Washington would oppose any Israeli attempt to avoid a final-status deal in favor of an interim arrangement. The senior Palestinian official was also quoted as saying that Ramallah would initially aim to come to agreement with Israel on the contours of a Palestinian state.
The US has promised the Palestinians that Israel would not carry out any “provocative” actions regarding settlements during the peace talks which are expected to resume in Washington this week.
The PA’s official daily newspaper Al-Ayyam also quoted Palestinian sources on Sunday as saying that the renewed talks would be based on the 1967 “borders” with agreed land swaps. The paper said that the Palestinian negotiating team would be headed by chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat and top Fatah official Mohammed Shtayyeh.Those claims may or may not be true - I would take them with a grain of salt.
Meanwhile, the cabinet is due to vote on Sunday on the release of 104 'Palestinian' terrorists. The meeting was due to start at 10:00, but it has apparently been postponed - because Prime Minister Netanyahu does not have enough votes? Instead, a meeting of Likud ministers is taking place at which Netanyahu is pleading with ministers from his own party to vote in favor of the release (link in Hebrew). The cabinet is going to - what else - appoint a committee.
With respect to the prisoner release, the government on Sunday will appoint a four-member ministerial committee to oversee the peace process, that will include Netanyahu, Livni, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch.
That committee will have the authority to make decisions with regard to the peace process, including the release of prisoners.
It is understood that a vote for that committee is a vote to release the prisoners.So far, at least two Likud ministers - Yisrael Katz and Gilad Erdan have said they will vote no. Netanyahu has now committed that every terrorist release will be returned to the cabinet for a vote.
Hmmm.
UPDATE 11:32 AM
Sorry - it's only the 'Israeli-Arab' terrorists whose release will be brought back to the cabinet.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, gestures, Middle East peace process, Palestinian terrorists
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:17 AM
1 Comments:
I think that before the released prisoners are set free they should get to spend 3 days living in the houses of any of the Knesset members that vote in favor of releasing these killers. I wonder how many would trust the released prisoners alone in there homes with their families.
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