RAMALLAH/GAZA CITY, 6 January 2008 — Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai yesterday said that jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti could be freed as part of a deal to secure the release of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
On Friday, exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said at a Damascus rally marking Hamas’ 20th anniversary that without the release of Barghouti and other Palestinian leaders, Shalit would not be freed.
Asked if Israel would be willing to free Barghouti, Vilnai told Israel Radio: “He will probably be on the list (of prisoners to be released), and if there is a need then yes, (I’m for releasing) him too.”
Barghouti, who has headed every prisoner release list demanded by the Palestinian Authority in negotiations with Israel, had been frequently mentioned in recent years as a possible alternative to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as polls have ranked him as the third most popular choice for leadership. He was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council in absentia and is seen by many Palestinians as a national hero. He is currently serving five life sentences in an Israeli prison for masterminding attacks that killed five Israelis and wounded many more.
Vilnai said he could not look people in the eye and say “we’re giving up on Gilad Shalit (captured by Hamas in a cross-border raid in June 2006).”
Freeing prisoners with “blood on their hands,” he said, was not new to Israel, as this had already been done in past deals.
According to current Israeli definitions, Palestinian prisoners involved in attacks that killed Israelis have “blood on their hands.” They are not usually released.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last December established a ministerial committee to examine options to relax the criteria for freeing Palestinian prisoners with “blood on their hands” in exchange of Shalit. Three out of the five members backed the move.
Israeli National Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, a former defense minister, and Environment Minister Gideon Ezra, a former deputy chief of Israel’s internal security service, have also endorsed freeing Barghouti.
Barghouti favors the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, but became a leader of the Palestinian uprising against Israel that erupted in late 2000.
Meanwhile, Hamas yesterday dismissed US President George W. Bush’s upcoming visit to the Middle East as a “photo opportunity” and said he was not welcome in the region.
Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in June and opposes Abbas’ bid to make peace with Israel, said Bush’s visit was aimed at shoring up support for the Jewish state and its occupation of Palestinian land. “Bush’s visit is unwelcome because it aims to serve the occupation and provide it with political and psychological support,” Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement.
“The visit is nothing but a farewell visit to get some photo opportunities as Bush prepares to leave the White House,” he said. Olmert and Abbas agreed at a conference in Annapolis, Maryland, in November to try to forge a deal on Palestinian statehood by the time Bush leaves office in early 2009.
