PA to demand Barghouti release as part of renewed negotiations with Israel
Abbas tells Time Magazine that Olmert promised Israel would release prisoners to PA if deal went through for release of abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.
By Avi Issacharoff Tags: Ehud Olmert Palestinian Authority Hamas 1967 borders Mahmoud AbbasThe Palestinian Authority is set to demand that the Quartet pressure Israel to release prisoners in fulfillment of a pledge made by former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, senior Palestinian sources told Haaretz on Monday.
Among the prisoners The PA wants released are Marwan Barghouti and Ahmad Saadat. The former is a member of the Fatah leadership, while Saadat is Secretary General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
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Jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti appearing in court in Tel Aviv in 2002. |
| Photo by: Archive / AP |
Abbas told Time Magazine a few days ago that, in 2008, Olmert promised him that Israel would release prisoners to the PA if a deal went through for the release of Gilad Shalit.
Olmert confirmed to Time that he had made the pledge.
Now the PA wants to present the demand ahead of a possible renewal of negotiations with Israel.
At the Knesset on Monday, MK Ahmed Tibi (United Arab List-Ta'al ) said that Israel should not be surprised if the two current conditions the Palestinians have set for restarting talks - a halt to construction in the settlements and recognition of the 1967 borders as a basis for negotiations - become three, the third being the prisoner release.
The PA's chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said on Monday that during meetings between Olmert and Abbas in Jerusalem in September 2008, as well as a few months later, Olmert pledged to release Palestinian prisoners if a prisoner swap for Shalit was concluded.
Erekat said a specific number of prisoners was not mentioned, nor were specific criteria, but that Olmert had agreed at the time that the number and criteria would be the same as those for prisoners released in exchange for Shalit, "and even better."
Erekat said this was not to be a condition for restarting negotiations, "just as the freezing of construction in the settlements is not a condition." Rather, it was a matter of fulfilling obligations, he said.
According to Israeli sources, Olmert had pledged to release 550 prisoners to Abbas so that a deal with Hamas would not increase its strength at the expense of the PA. However, the deal for Shalit includes 1,027 prisoners according to understandings with Hamas, and does not include gestures to Abbas by Israel.
The PA demand centers mainly on the release of some 170 longtime prisoners, who have been in Israeli jails since before the Oslo Accords.
Some members of the inner cabinet are said to support the Palestinian demand, but senior cabinet ministers have said over the past few days that the government does not intend to make any gestures to Abbas in light of his bid for statehood in the United Nations.
On Monday, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that he vehemently opposed any such gesture, as did other inner cabinet members.
Lieberman also called for Mahmoud Abbas to resign, calling him the greatest obstacle to an agreement with the Palestinians. If Abbas would step down, negotiations might resume, Lieberman said.
On Monday, Palestinian leaders called Lieberman's remarks harsh incitement which constituted a call to harm Abbas. Also on Monday, Palestinian leaders spoke with senior American and European officials, protesting Lieberman's remarks.
Meanwhile, sources in Hamas said the head of the Hamas political bureau, Khaled Meshal, would be visiting the Jordanian capital, Amman, soon, together with a representative of the Qatari government.
Hamas representatives said the visit had been postponed for a few days, but that they believed two new Hamas bureaus would be opening soon, in Cairo and in Jordan. They also said a meeting might take place between Meshal and King Abdullah of Jordan.
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Yeah and I bet Israel is still considering the Quartets urge to stop all settlement construction. Israel doesn't want peace.
HE WOULD REPLACE ABBAS AND THEN NEGOTIATIONS WOULDE DONE
Not one of this so caled friends of palestinians has given cirizenship to them not even after 30-40 years shame on this kind of friends .only empty woldds .I think they shuld be ashamed .the libians thrown out 10tausend of them couple of years ago.Friends???bla bla bla.
Ahmad saadat has nothing to do with Fatah. It was the Fatah leadership that arrested him in the first place. He was the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
to do anything is fruitless. Why should he? He's going to get what he wants from the UNGA shortly. That'll be the first step to Palestinian full UN membership. He knows what he's doing--and that's why Netanyahu is in panic mode.
If they are going to make demands then we should demand they give up the right of return and recognition of Israel as the Jewish homeland and in the end there will be no peace or we could both just sit down with no preconditions and with a little give and take on both sides maybe we could work something out
Two months hence, Abbas should Merrily skip down the stairs, warm his hands at the fireplace, look into the stockings and check under the Tree. Perhaps Santa will have brought everything on his list. In the meanwhile -- Ho, Ho Ho
When in history has a defeated aggressor have the chutzpah to make any demands????
Clearly you don't want to go back to the table... That's an old pPalestinian trick... Whatever Bibi is giving you on the table you want more to go back to the table of negotiations. Yo're not truly interested.
Don't release him, ever.
Olmert is not the Israeli government and his personal pledge is meaningless and it is stupid to demand that it be honored now. In any case it is Israel's turn to demand as a requirement for restarting talks: (1) demand recogition that Israel is a legitimate Jewish state and (2) the corollary, no right of return as a part of any peace discussions since right of return ultimately destroys Israel as a Jewish state. If those concessions are made and the peace talks are successful the PA prisoners would be released and not constitue a threat to Israel.
I support West Bank and East Jerusalem construction, 1967 lines as a basis for negotiations, and the release of Palestinian prisoners - in particular, Barghouti. Unfortunately, its Netanyahu that makes the decision and he doesn't agree to any of these conditions. He might just want Hamas to become more influential in the eyes of the Palestinians so that he can say that we have no partner for peace.
Before 1967 the west bank was in the hands of jordan. Now jordan is accepting hamas as the representative of west bank by allowing it to open the office. So there is no need of israel to negotiate with pa since there can be only one authority to be negotiated with.
Far from being willing to add more prisoners to the list for possible release, they should be holding back onreleasing the current prisoners due to be released as part of the Shalit deal in protest against those prisoners who have already come out and renewed their pledge to repeat their terrorist murders and who have incited children to follow their example and become "martyrs"
Israel struck a deal with Hamas in exchange for Shalit. Abbas played no part. He gets nothing!
Having failed about forcing an unsecured "peace" on Israel and having failed with his silly apply to UN - he will not get the approval, the West is too much concerned about the possibility that heavy and dangerous weapons will abundan the region for terrorist aims - he wants to have a good backing before he goes and ralks to Hamas about "reconciliation". What a fool!
For years he conducted discussions with influential Israelis, some who even visited him in prison.
With the reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas as one. If you wanted him out you would have to change the Hamas Charter.
and the time for free gestures ! Israel never understood its enemy. Bringing Arafat from his exile was one of them etc.. etc..
how can we make a deal with a people who are deeply divided. It seems that barghouti is the only one who can unite the various Palestinian factions. He should be freed: and we should be prepared to negotiatte with him.
if abbas position would have been the same as in 2008, fair enough. but .... He changed in many ways. Back then it looked like israel has a partner for peace. But now, the pa has no intention to negotiate. All they do is demand more things. Conclusion: bargutti will stay where he belongs!
Netanyahu ran for office on the promise that any promise made by Olmert or any prior Israeli government was VOID. Abbas is nuts to think that Netanyahu would keep an Olmert promise. Obama is keeping a Bush promise and ending the war in Iraq - one whole month early. Look at what the Israeli right wing says about that. Expecting Netanyahu to keep a promise made by a former PM? Abbas must be dreaming.
any promise not approved by the Kenesset should be null and void. Or, if the Prime Minister was determined to be a criminal, which would invalidate all PM's promises except Begin and Shamir.
What about his side of the deal with Olmert? the ones who agreed to release Gilad Shalit are Hamas and they only did so because Israel Did release prisoners so what does Abbas want?
Oh by the way---in case you had forgotten 0lmert was on the way out the door on his way to being indicted for corruption---some offer.
Abbas is not only a good Palestinian, but good for Israel too.
brazen malicious deceit
Israel doesn't honor PLEDGES. Where has Abbas been?
We know how the story goes. The more compromises, offers ,etc Israeli PM provides the more the rebuke by the Palestinian and the resolve to notch the fight and demands higher. Barak learned it , Olmert learned it, etc , etc - so what is new ? - Since the PA is not abiding by the Oslo accord of not involving the UN without both parties agreeing - than why does anything hold?
We know how the story goes. The more compromises, offers ,etc Israeli PM provides the more the rebuke by the Palestinian and the resolve to notch the fight and demands higher. Barak learned it , Olmert learned it, etc , etc - so what is new ? - Since the PA is not abiding by the Oslo accord of not involving the UN without both parties agreeing - than why does anything hold?
replaced as PM. Israel has no obligation to abide by a clandestine 'promise' made by a felon !
Its best to keep quiet lest you embarass yourself.
It is a pity to see how many fools with leftist views are expressed in Haaretz, both in the eiditorials and both in the talkbacks. It seems that while most Israelis are starting to coming to their senses, and have adopted a more realistic and pratical stance , there are many hardcore leftists - that are almost impossible to enlighten. While I don't see Liberman ascending to the office of PM in Israel, however the more influence he has and the less we hear from Barak , Meridor and the defeatists, we will be in a better situation.
The road map is dead and buried. It is time for fresh faces. Lieberman is right. Abbas should go- he has no democratic mandate from his people. Also, he is getting nowhere with the Israelis. It is time that the Pals have an election and let the chips fall where they will. This way if there is a peace treaty it will beteween the Palestinian people and the Israeli people. There would be a better chance for sucess- at least better than now. The incessant talking is annoying and getting nowhere.
If the Palestinians had an election today and Hamas won unanimously across the West Bank and Gaza, would you support a negotiation between the new PA (Hamas) and Israel or will you be one of the many Israelis that would wish Abbas was still around?
Israel refused to accept the result of the last Palestinian election, what would make the next one any different?
it would mean the end of the end of the "land for peace" fallacy. The Israeli left would be left without a platform. Israel's real history could then begin.
and what did Abbas pledge in return? it seems it is always palistinians asking for israel to give more and more and what do palistininians give more demands someone should tell abbas it takes two to tango
... no tango for the robbed Palestinians...
israel does not abide by international law and signed accords and you expect it to uphold a pledge. PULEEEEZ
The only reason Abbas is pushing for their release must be that he is not a moderate.
Tell the PLO to stop begging. The PLO has sacrificed any benefits by destroying all agreements signed with Israel. The acts by the PLO at the UN must be punished, their acts have nullified all agreements.
punish the PA...yeah really good strategy. Really good.... Stop occupying.
You can start lecturing the PLO when your country stops begging for the 3 billion you receive from my country annually, paid by people like yours truly. If you house is made of glass.....
To tax Payer. The money we get from your country is not aid money. It is money we ought to use for buying american weapons. It represents 1% of our GDP.
It is the USA that begs us to take the 3 billion, so that they can manipulate what goes on in our country. The money you give us has been ill-gotten through your global wars. Please keep it, Israel would be FAR better off.
Honor the commitment; but, Abbas MUST RETIRE (along w/ 2-state solution) from PA government & PLO & PA MUST OFFICIALLY BE DISSOLVED with no further attempts at achieving an independent PA state within Israeli territory, finally PUBLICLY ACKNOWLEDGING ISRAEL AS A JEWISH STATE; accepting terms of 1 State, 1 homeland for 2 Peoples as originally agreed (accepting right of return format included in framework); agreeing to NO MORE KIDNAPPING OPS OF JEWS/ISRAELIS. We shall leave exact names and numbers to be included for release to the discretion of the official negotiation teams. B"H
Olmert when does he go to prison ? .. have they not furnished his prison cell yet ?
Palestinians need to chose, because the longer the PA are in power, the more road blocks there gonna impose on there own statehood, before there was 2 to negoitations and as of today there will be 3, soon there will b 4, and then 5.
Israel talks in circles while Settlement activity continues unabated.
In the last few weeks, Abbas could have signed an peace agreement, which Olmert would have put in a public referendum. Then, Netanyahu would be legally bound to follow it once he took office. Instead, Abbas announced that he did not want to sign an agreement with an Israeli PM out of office, and turned Olmert's offers down. It's just like 2000, when Prime Minister Barak offered far-reaching concessions, which Arafat rejected out of hand. If he was unhappy, he could have negotiated and proposed a counter-offer, but instead he just flew home. Arafat rejected Barak, and ended up getting Sharon. Abbas rejected Olmert, and got Netanyahu.
That would be when the person or group to whom the promise was made has no hand in the deliverance of the subject of the promise. In other word, the PA had no hand in making Hamas cough up Shalit, so it has no claim to the past promise from an ex-politician now out of office!
Olmert rolled out the red carpet for Abbas but it wasn't enough. Too bad, it's too late now. Negotiate without conditions or shut up.
The correct response now that Shalit is free is to announce the 1027 unit Gilad Shalit Housing Complex in Sheik Jarrah on the site of the Shepherd Hotel. This will make the sacrifice of the families of the victims of the released terrorists and Shalit himself worthy, and deliver the only message that PLO terrorism deserves--more Jews.
state what they are. Pals must (1) recognize Israel as a Jewish state (2) agree to renounce violence (3) agree to permit Jews to take up citizenship in the Pal state and to constitutionally guarantee their rights (4) the PA must rescind its application to the U.N. for recognition as a state. None of those things are pre-conditions. They are just obligations that flow from the recognition of Israel by the world community as a Jewish state, human rights obligations of not discriminating against any group by virtue of their ehtnicity or nationality and undertakings made in Oslo to not unilaterally seek statehood. Those obligations must be met before negotiations can begin. Or, both sides can get together and negotiate everything.
Speak for yourself, but don't try to pass yourself off as "Canadian". You should be signing off as "Zionist ".
But trust me out of the ones that do majority are pro-Palestine. I live in Calgary, Alberta and in every protest I've been to, you see one or two Pro Israel supporters and 200+ Palestinian supporters.
Stephen Harper and his Conservatives do, but the NDP and the Liberals make up 65% of the Canadian voters, and they do not support the present Israeli government.
That'll be because the Palestinians are sponging off the government and have nothing better to do than protest. Where as the Israeli's are actually working and integrating into the community
That's Zionism for ya...
Israel treats all agreements as non-binding.
The article specifically mentions Olmerts acknowledgement of the pledge. Why have you ignored this?
Why is only Israel "legally obligated" to stop building in the DISPUTED TERRITORIES? Palestinians also build there, but no-one complains. Ownership of those areas is DISPUTED, still subject to negotiations and agreement re ownership...is Israel is not to build there, no-one is! If Palestinians can, then Israel can too!
Why is only Israel "legally obligated" to stop building in the DISPUTED TERRITORIES? Palestinians also build there, but no-one complains. Ownership of those areas is DISPUTED, still subject to negotiations and agreement re ownership...is Israel is not to build there, no-one is! If Palestinians can, then Israel can too!
Israel is legally obligated to stop building because they are the occupying power. Israel signed the Geneva conventions which forbid acquisition of territory by force and the transfer of population in or out of occupied territory. The territory is only disputed by Israel--no other country or people in the world accept Israel's claims to the settlements as legitimate or legal.
Is it at all possible that P.M. Olmert was referring to a release of Shalit sometime during Olmert's administration or sometime in 2008 and not as a reward for robbing Shalit of an additional 3 years of his life? The PA did nothing to facilitate the Israeli's release; how dare the PA insist on a release of more prisoners based upon this theory. Netanyahu will not fall for these shenanigans.
What about pledge by PLO for no violence ? These guys have to be kidding. We begged him not to go to UN. He stabs us front and back and now ge wants us to show good faith moves?
What do you expect? He is a "Palestinian".
The Palestinians are demanding that Israel comply with International law, binding UNSC resolutions and other agreements that Israel is obligated to comply with. Since Israel refuses, the Palestinians are now going to the UN to press their case. I wish them all the luck in the world and I might remind you the overwhelming majority of the world agrees with the Palestinian argument.
PA is a joke.
Certainly nowhere in the Oslo Accords....
They specifically state that a Palestinian state will be achieved through negotiations.
The PA is violating the 1995 Oslo Interim Agreement by declaring an independent state. According to Article 23 of the internationally recognized accord, "neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent status negotiations."
Now read the Oslo Accords.
The Oslo Accords date from 1993, yet the PLO insist that they declared the state of Palestine in 1988. Your argument therefore appears to have a serious chronological problem.....
But remember this: the PLO had already declared the state of Palestine a full 5 years before the Oslo Accords were enacted, and so seeking recognition of that declaration Can Not Be A Change To The Existing Status Quo.
They Aren't Declaring An Independent State. They insist they made that declaration in 1988, and what they are now seeking is membership of the United Nations. Seeking that membership violates nothing in the Oslo Accords; certainly not the part that you just quoted.
Not to mention Olmert ALSO pulled out EVERY Jew out of Gaza.. What was the Palestinians' "pledge" right afterwards? Go read the Hamas Charter, the "pledge" is right there...
"Olmert ALSO pulled out EVERY Jew out of Gaza" Umm that was Sharon not Olmert
Im not a fan at all of Hamas, for me they all could go staright to hell, but come on! Hamas made the deal, if the PA wants something, better they ask Hamas to agree with it first...the PA haven't lifted a finger about Shalit, if it were for them, he would spend the rest of his life in Gaza.
As an outsider Israel should not release any more prisoner becuase of teh 2008 pledge by Priminister of the time Olmert., that offer was good for that time only. If israel releases again the PA assumes they will always get more by waiting and delaying the process. Abbass cannot lead his people and is taking them no where.
Olmert's "pledge" went out the window the moment he went out of office. By your way of thinking, Abbas could also now, in 2011, demand the right to accept the offer Olmert made back in 2008 for the West Bank, half of Jerusalem, Gaza and a connecting corridor between them. It certainly WAS a time-limited offer, good only for the time Ehud Olmert was PM.
Was this a contract? If so, what did Abbas offer in consideration?
did not israel desire that the americans keep the pledge by bush to consider "the facts on the ground"? they pushed obama to allow israel to recognize the settlements--- double standards to me.
What's the rush, Israel is sill "thinking" about demolishing the illegal outposts it promised to do so back in 2001.