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A bearable price By Haaretz Editorial Tags: Hamas, Palestinians  Two groups were quick to object yesterday to the government's decision to release 200 Palestinian prisoners identified with Fatah: the Hamas movement and the Likud Party. Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri attacked the decision from different directions, but came to the same conclusion: Releasing these prisoners is wrong. But if this joint objection is not reason enough to sanction the government's move, there are also other reasons to consider it helpful and appropriate. The Israelis who object to releasing the Fatah members suspect Ehud Olmert of hurriedly giving away the store before his party replaces him. His only goal now, they believe, is to leave his mark, to create a legacy for himself. But without taking a stand on whether these accusations are justified or not, or on how the prisoners' release will affect the next government's freedom of action, it seems that the cabinet debate on this issue contained only a modicum of internal politics. After all, the only ones to vote against the decision were Shaul Mofaz, whose positions are close to those of Netanyahu, and the Shas ministers. The prisoners' release is meant to buttress the shaky reign of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The Palestinian public, in Gaza and especially in the West Bank, is weighing the accomplishments and failures of Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and comparing them to those of Hamas since it forcibly took over the Gaza Strip in June 2007. So far, however, Abbas has not managed to demonstrate to his people that his way, which favors compromise with Israel, has led to better results than Hamas' violence in Gaza (and Hezbollah's violence along the northern border). Abbas will not be able to bring his people significant Israeli concessions on borders, the refugees or Jerusalem by the end of Olmert's time in office. The horizon of a diplomatic solution may not be growing more distant, but it certainly continues to be out of reach. Advertisement Commuting the sentences of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons is a tangible asset that Israel can give to Abbas. True, Hamas hopes to get many more prisoners in exchange for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit (and, despite all the denials, there is no escaping the impression that the release of the current batch of Palestinian prisoners is an appendix to Israel's deal with Hezbollah, meaning that the achievement is really Hassan Nasrallah's). At the moment, however, the Shalit deal is only a possibility, while the release of prisoners to Abbas is a certainty. The prisoners were indeed sentenced legally, but commuting and shortening their sentences is in Israel's best interests. Nor will this adversely affect Israel's deterrent posture any more than does releasing prisoners in exchange for abducted Israelis or dead bodies - in contrast to the necessity of punishing Israeli murderers who attribute their crimes to "national" or "security-related" reasons. If the latter were released, as a way of sweetening the bitter pill of letting Palestinian murderers loose, this would encourage any killer with ordinary criminal motives to provide a nationalist motive if captured, so that he, too, might be released someday. Israel's relationship with the Palestinian Authority and its leaders is very fragile. Every effort should be made to avoid slipping into another round of violence and to ensure that Abbas and Fayyad do not lose all remaining control over the radical elements on their side. For this purpose, releasing the prisoners is a bearable price. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Poor sports Here are the top 10 excuses for Israel's poor Olympics showing. Kafka the Zionist Remnants of Kafka's estate found in T.A. raise questions of his belief in Zionism.   1.   When Will They Ever Learn? 10:58  |  John Ringstone 18/08/08   2.   Shenkin Str. band of cringers wants to transform Israel in a Medi 11:30  |  Absolute Sweden 18/08/08   3.   rational. responsible man. 11:57  |  Palestinian,s freind 18/08/08   4.   wink wink 12:15  |  Refugee 18/08/08   5.   The release of prisoners is only an unhelpful distraction 12:18  |  Natallie Durson 18/08/08   6.   Prisoners - legally sentenced or not? 12:35  |  Manny Goldstein 18/08/08   7.   If human life is worthless than it is a bearable price 12:39  |  Ilan 18/08/08   8.   Haaretz lives in a parallel universe 14:38  |  Sidney 18/08/08   9.   Likud & their Settlers arm in arm with Hamas, their partner 14:40  |  Ivar 18/08/08   10.   Why not just cuddle Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and bin-Laden instead? 14:51  |  Harvey 18/08/08   11.   Israel had better support Fatah 14:53  |  Raed Kami 18/08/08   12.   Absolute Sweden & Natalie Durson 15:05  |  Michael 18/08/08   13.   M. Goldsteim,"your" cangoroo court took 1 hour or so to convict 15:11  |  Absolute Sweden 18/08/08   14.   Almost all of Israel is against this monstrous crime. 15:23  |  Chaim 18/08/08   15.   A bearable price 15:43  |  Ralph 18/08/08   16.   Fatah, who cares! 16:21  |  John Allen 18/08/08   17.   It`s not often that you read something that is so totally insane 17:21  |  Bill Pearlman 18/08/08   18.   How much it cost for Israel to `stay in Fatah good books` ? 17:22  |  Akram Zekaria 18/08/08   19.   There is no doubt that.... 17:39  |  Esther 18/08/08   20.   Fatah`s good side 17:57  |  lady from America 18/08/08   21.   Lunacy , Absolute Lunacy 18:10  |  Tod Zuckerman 18/08/08   22.   Yes, we must stay in the Killers` good books 18:25  |  Israeli Leftist 18/08/08   23.   Fatah option is Condi-Olmert fiction and doesn`t exist in reality 18:33  |  G Marcus 18/08/08   24.   If It Wasn`t For Israel , Hamas Would Have Defeated Fatah 19:14  |  Joseph.E 18/08/08   25.   An Unbearable Price..... 19:23  |  Dagma 18/08/08   26.   "5 Natallie Durson on gaoling every Palestinian 20:35  |  Labhras 18/08/08   27.   You want to stay on Fatah`s "good side" and Turknot talk to Iran? 03:09  |  John Isenhower 19/08/08   28.   prisoners release 04:43  |  yuval 19/08/08   29.   israel missing the true picture....as usual 06:42  |  ravi 19/08/08   30.   199 murderers, some less successful than others 07:48  |  Ilan 19/08/08   31.   A bearable price, hardly 10:16  |  Dutch 19/08/08   32.   30 Illan, Look at the other side too... 12:53  |  Dutch 19/08/08   33.   #29 ravi is LYING. As usual (3x) 13:06  |  CK Tan 19/08/08   34.   #31 dutch HALLUCINATES again 13:08  |  CK Tan 19/08/08   35.   CK Tan , my response 15:58  |  Dutch 19/08/08   36.   #35 dutch SHOWS OFF her EMPEROR`s new clothes 23:14  |  CK Tan 19/08/08

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