Israel threatens to not release Palestinians
JERUSALEM — Israel has cast doubt on whether a scheduled release of Palestinian prisoners will take place at the end of the month, threatening to plunge U.S.-led peace talks into a new crisis.
Israel agreed to the release of 104 long-serving Palestinian prisoners in four stages as part of a package to relaunch peace talks last July. But after carrying out the first three releases, chief negotiator Tzipi Livni said the last group would be released only if there is progress in negotiations.
Livni said Tuesday that Israel never committed to the prisoner release. She said the fate of the prisoners was in the hands of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The roughly 5,000 prisoners held by Israel are viewed by Palestinians as heroes. Prisoners freed in previous rounds were embraced by Abbas and welcomed in elaborate celebrations.
The issue is equally emotional in Israel, where the prisoners are seen as terrorists because many were involved in bloody attacks on civilians. Prisoners freed in previous rounds had been convicted in killings of Israelis, and their releases angered many.
“In order to promote serious negotiations we all have to make decisions and prove that our faces are toward a real peace agreement,” Livni said. “The proof of that rests on the Palestinian shoulders as well.”
Livni’s comments came at a sensitive time in the negotiations. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has set an April target date for reaching a preliminary peace deal that would set the stage for months of additional talks to wrap up an agreement.
But after nearly eight months of negotiations, there have been no indications that progress is being made.
The Palestinian minister of prisoner affairs, Issa Karake, said “if they (Israelis) don’t release them they will be foiling the whole peace process.”
At a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday, Abbas expressed hope the prisoners would go free.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Israel and the Palestinians are at “a tough period, a pivotal period of the negotiations.”
Asked whether she shared Abbas’ hope that the release takes place, she said, “Certainly, because it’s part of what was agreed to between the parties. We would support the prisoner release, of course.”