Last update - 00:00 10/01/2008
Ministers to present PM list of Palestinians to free for Shalit
By Barak Ravid ,Haaretz Correspondent
A special ministerial forum examining criteria for releasing Palestinian security prisoners was on Thursday to present Prime Minister Ehud Olmert with a new list of jailed Palestinians who could be freed in an exchange for abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit.
Shalit was kidnapped by Hamas-linked militants who infiltrated the Israel-Gaza border in June 2006, killing two IDF soldiers and snatching the 19-year-old Armored Corps corporal from his tank position near the coastal strip.
The ministerial forum, which includes Vice Premier Haim Ramon, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann, Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, and Minister without Portfolio Ami Ayalon, convened Wednesday for the final time following a series of meetings over the past few months.
The forum has drafted a new outline for the release of Palestinian prisoners, and is likely to have a majority in favor of relaxing the criteria that forbid releasing prisoners with "blood on their hands" - who have are imprisoned for killing Israelis.
The current terms for Palestinian prisoner releases were determined by the Shin Bet security service during a 2004 prisoner swap that freed Elhanan Tannenbaum from three years in Hezbollah captivity.
Ramon is willing to be flexible over relaxing the criteria for a prisoner release, Dichter is open to discussion on the matter and Ayalon is in favor of flexibility, "strictly for the purpose of a deal to release Gilad Shalit."
Friedmann is reportedly opposed to easing the criteria, as is the Shin Bet.
The forum is authorized to formulate recommendations, not to make operative decisions. "The final decision regarding the criteria will be given a broader forum," a source said.
Related articles: