COS opposes Fatah prisoners' release

Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi said yesterday that he objects to freeing 16 Fatah members from the Gaza Strip ahead of the Annapolis Summit scheduled for next week.

Israel is expected to release 441 Palestinian prisoners; 16 are Fatah members from the Gaza Strip, while the other prisoners are all from the West Bank.

Ashkenazi did not attend the cabinet meeting on the prisoner release, but told a number of ministers outside the cabinet room that releasing prisoners from Gaza will not strengthen Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Instead, Ashkenazi said, it will be a victory for the Hamas.

The prisoner release is a goodwill gesture toward Abbas, following his demands to free 2,000 security prisoners before the summit. While Israel has opposed the larger request, the bid has apparently won the support of the U.S. administration.

Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu ministers opposed the move, as did Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz of Kadima.

A statement from the Prime Minister's Bureau before the cabinet decision noted that there has been no change in the criteria used to select prisoners to be released. No Hamas or Islamic Jihad terrorists will be released, nor those who have been involved in the killing of Israelis. In addition, the sources added that the release would in no way harm the attempts to free abducted soldier Gilad Shalit held in Gaza.

Mofaz told the cabinet: "A wholesale release of prisoners is a mistake. In reality, where Gilad Shalit is in the hands of Hamas, all the releases until now have not helped Israel at all."

The Palestinian Authority minister for prisoners, Ashraf al-Ajrami, said of the decision yesterday that it was an action taken mostly to improve Israel's public relations.

According to al-Ajrami, after releasing hundreds of prisoners in the past without consulting the Palestinians, once again Israel is doing so without any connection to the PA's criteria.