Israel: Talks with Palestinians to begin informally tonight, after cabinet approves prisoner release

Livni, Molcho leave for Washington and expected to meet Erekat Monday; Shin Bet chief says release of prisoners poses threat, but negotiations calm situation on ground; Kerry phones Netanyahu, Abbas.

Jerusalem Post - The cabinet paved the way for negotiations to start informally in Washington on Monday with the Palestinians, as it voted 13-7 on Sunday to approve the talks and empower a ministerial committee to release 104 Palestinian prisoners over the next nine months.

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who heads the Israeli negotiating team, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's envoy Yitzhak Molcho left Sunday evening for the US.  They were expected to hold a preliminary meeting Monday at US Secretary of State John Kerry's home with  Palestinian negotiators Saeb Erekat and Mohammad Shtayyeh, and then begin the negotiations in earnest on Tuesday.

Kerry phoned Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Sunday evening to extend a formal invitation to the talks. According to a statement put out by the State Department, the meetings will "serve as an opportunity to develop a procedural work-plan for how the parties can proceed with the negotiations in the coming months."     Read More

Hundreds protest PM’s decision to release Palestinian prisoners

Demonstrator: "These terrorists have blood on their hands."

Jerusalem Post - Hundreds of protesters gathered near Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Jerusalem office Sunday morning to express outrage and anguish over his agreement to release 104 Palestinian prisoners as a concession to restart peace negotiations with PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

The demonstration, arranged by the Almagor Terror Victims Association, and families who have lost loved ones to terrorists, featured haunting black-and-white placards with images of numerous victims killed by the prisoners being released.

Posters with red hand prints – illustrating the blood on the prisoners’ hands – were also prominently displayed by a number of protesters, whose ages ranged from teenagers to octogenarians.

“This is not a political issue for me, it’s a moral one,” said Jeff Daube, director of the Israel office of the Zionist Organization of America, who attended the demonstration.   Read More

Palestinian prisoner release passes cabinet by wide 13-7 margin

After nearly 6 hour meeting, cabinet votes to renew talks with Palestinians including release of 104 Palestinian terrorists in 4 stages over 9 months; cabinet also approves bill to bring peace deal to national referendum.

Jerusalem Post - The cabinet on Sunday voted to approve negotiations with the Palestinians including the release of 104 Palestinian terrorists in stages over the next nine months as part of diplomatic negotiations.

The measure passed at the end of a nearly six hour cabinet meeting by the vote of 13-7, with two abstentions.   Read More


Earlier Coverage -

Jerusalem Post - Israel has decided to raise the number of prisoners that it will release from 82 to 104 as a condition for the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table, Israel Radio reported on Saturday.

Israel increased the number of people to be freed after the Palestinians threatened that they would not attend the opening meeting of talks that is scheduled to take place next week in Washington according to the report that cited a source with knowledge of the negotiations.

Some of the prisoners to be released were Israeli-Arab prisoners that in the past Israel had refused to free, according to the source.

The decision to release Israeli-Arab prisoners as a goodwill gesture to the Palestinians contravenes Israeli policy not to allow the Palestinian Authority to intervene in Israeli-Arab affairs, the report stressed.     Read More

Netanyahu on prisoner release: Sometimes PMs have to make unpopular choices for good of the country

Jerusalem Post - Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu turned to the citizens of Israel in an open letter on Saturday explaining his decision to release Palestinian prisoners as a gesture to the Palestinian Authority ahead of the renewal of peace talks in Washington next week.

"This is an incredibly difficult decision. It hurts the bereaved families, it hurts all of the Israeli people and it hurts me very much. It clashes with the most important principle, the principle of justice," Netanyahu stated.

Netanyahu said that "sometimes prime ministers are forced to make decisions that go against public opinion - when the issue is important for the country."

Netanyahu addressed the upcoming start of peace talks, saying that "in the next nine months we will determine if across from us is a Palestinian partner that desires a true end to the conflict as we do."

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