GAZA CITY/JERUSALEM: Israel’s premier pledged to free more than 150 Palestinian prisoners in a meeting yesterday with President Mahmoud Abbas, as a way of energizing their sluggish peace talks.
The release could also boost the prestige of the embattled Palestinian leader, whose Fatah movement is engaged in a tense power struggle with the Hamas.
The meeting at Olmert’s official Jerusalem residence was the first since the Israeli premier announced last week that he would resign next month because of multiple corruption investigations against him. Palestinians have been seeking assurances that peace talks, started with great fanfare at a US-sponsored conference last November, would continue despite Israel’s internal political turmoil.
Olmert says he is determined to press ahead with peace efforts as long as he is in office. Because of Israel’s complicated political system, his term could extend into next year. The Olmert-Abbas summit, the latest in their frequent meetings, came on the day Israel freed five Palestinian prisoners as part of its exchange with Hezbollah fighters to bring back the bodies of two soldiers captured in 2006.
With Hamas demanding freedom for several hundred prisoners in exchange for Sgt. Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier also captured in 2006, Abbas badly needed to show his people that he can win freedom for prisoners in Israeli jails by peaceful means, as opposed to the fighters’ tactics of attacks and abductions.
However, the modest numbers Abbas achieved were not likely to lead to widespread rejoicing in the Palestinian street or points against Hamas. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Aug. 25, “more than 150” prisoners would be freed, out of about 11,000 held by Israel.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said prisoners would be released later this month “as a confidence-building measure, as a gesture of good will.” But it was seen highly unlikely that Olmert would agree to a key Abbas demand: freedom for Marwan Barghouti, the highest Fatah official in Israeli custody, who is serving multiple life terms for involvement in deadly attacks against Israelis. Israeli officials said only that Olmert did not commit to specific names.
Barghouti is also said to be on the list of prisoners Hamas wants released in exchange for the soldier it is holding, but Israel could not be expected to give that kind of boost to the fighters, who do not recognize Israel and have sent dozens of suicide bombings to attack Israelis. Over the past week, tensions have flared again between Hamas and Abbas’ Fatah, starting with a bombing in Gaza that killed five Hamas militants and a girl.
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