MK Livnat: Release Barghouti only with approval of 80 MKs
Proposes bill to increase difficulty of release security prisoners; goal of bill to give Knesset authority over pardons.
By Gideon AlonMK Limor Livnat on Monday proposed a bill according to which security prisoners could only be released upon approval by 80 members of Knesset. The bill was intended to increase the difficulty of releasing jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti as part of a prisoner swap.
The bill would amend Basic Law on the President, which dictates that the president has the authority to release a life prisoner convicted of murder who acted from national or terrorist motives. If approved, the release of such a prisoner would require a majority in Knesset.
The goal of the bill, which 24 MKs from right-wing parties have already signed, is to give the Knesset authority to supervise pardons given to criminals from nationalist or terrorist backgrounds, and whose release harms the deterrence element against terrorist activity.
Opposition leader Benjamin Netenyahu (Likud) was among the members of Knesset who signed the bill.
Noam Shalit, father of kidnapped Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, said "I would be interested to know if Limor Livnat would initiate the bill if one of her sons was rotting in captivity in Lebanon."
"This is delusional. We know what it is to be bereaved, and nobody has a monopoly over that, not even MK Livnat," he said, adding, "we are talking about live soldiers, who were sent by the state and didn't go to Lebanon and Gaza voluntarily."
The forum for bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families strongly opposed the initiative. In a letter to Livnat, they said the bill issued "a severe blow to the possibility of agreement with our neighbors and the advancement of appeasement process in the region."
The forum called for MKs to "recognize the important duty of security prisoners, and to allow them to take part and lead appeasement and agreement processes between two nations."
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What other country in the world would even consider releasing a serial killer such as Barghouti? What if the U.S.S.R had demanded that America release John Wayne Gacy as a condition for peace? Israel's leaders must be totally out of minds to even consider releasing Palestinian serial killers. For 80 MKs to consider such as release indicates that the 80 MKs are also out of their minds and deserve to be locked up in the nearest nut factory.
ten,the naive Israeli members of the Forum still think appeasement is the way. The soldiers were sent,pal murderers volunteered,like Kuntar.Their victims have the right to have their say as well.
unanimous approval for any release. these people are terrorists and terrorist supporters. any release must receive a full vote before they are released.
Those whom Livnat represents would like to introduce total paralysis into any effort to come to terms with our neighbors the Palestinians. The settlers and the right wing politicians would bring total ruin to any effort at peace and compromise. Barghoti is no more criminal than any Israeli who has defended his country during war disputes. Shalit, the father, is perfectly right that this total insensitivity of Livnat would not have existed if she had sons languishing in enemy prisons.