JERUSALEM, 14 February 2005 — The Israeli Cabinet yesterday approved a list of 500 Palestinian prisoners to be released in coming days, and several hundred Palestinian workers were permitted to return to jobs in Israel after months of closure, in line with agreements reached at a Middle East summit last week.
Also, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered law enforcement agencies to crack down on Jewish extremists opposed to the planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip after a series of threats and attacks on government ministers.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, meanwhile, was to present a new Cabinet to his Fatah movement for approval tomorrow. Abbas was expected to appoint new interior, foreign and information ministers, but keep on many members of the current government, officials said.
Israeli officials have voiced concerns about extremist opposition to the pullout plan for months. But with this summer’s planned withdrawal quickly approaching and a recent warming of ties with the Palestinians, the level of alarm has been raised.
At yesterday’s Israeli Cabinet meeting, ministers said the charged climate is reminiscent of the period before the 1995 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and one Cabinet member reportedly warned that Sharon himself could become a target.
Sharon instructed law enforcement agencies to report back to the Cabinet as soon as possible with steps that can be taken to “rein in the violent rampage” of extremists who oppose his plan, a statement said.
Several Cabinet ministers said they have received threatening letters in recent days, and last week Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had his tires slashed and slurs shouted at him while attending a wedding. Netanyahu, a former prime minister, was targeted just days after Education Minister Limor Livnat was whisked away from an event where she was verbally attacked by hard-line Jews. Extremists also have put up posters across the country with implicit death threats to Sharon. The posters say that Rabin and Sharon’s wife Lily, who is deceased, are “waiting for Sharon.”
Meir Sheetrit, one of the ministers to receive a threatening letter, said that every step should be taken to punish those behind the threats. “It sets off a warning light, and we should take tangible steps before there is another political murder,” he said.
Cabinet minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer presented the ministers a copy of a letter he received. The letter described the Iraqi-born Ben-Eliezer as “the epitome of evil, a miserable Iraqi, a Nazi with Arab blood. You love Arabs more than Jews.”
“I am telling you: They will try to kill the prime minister,” Ben-Eliezer told the meeting, according to Israeli media.
Sharon was outraged. “I am shocked by this savagery. We need to take immediate practical steps,” Sharon was quoted as saying before ordering police, legal authorities and security commanders to take action.
Police commanders also met yesterday to discuss the growing threat, said police spokesman Gil Kleiman. Sharon’s spokesman, Raanan Gissin, said the prime minister would also meet security officials in the coming days. At yesterday’s meeting, the Cabinet approved the release of 500 Palestinian prisoners in the near future, one of a series of agreements reached at last week’s Mideast summit in Egypt.
Senior commanders from both sides were meeting late yesterday to coordinate the handover of Jericho, the first town to be turned over to Palestinian control, Army Radio reported. The prisoners to be released were not involved in violence against Israelis, and all have completed two-thirds of their sentences, Israeli officials said.
— With input from agencies
