Israeli government approves bill barring release of Palestinian prisoners

Israel’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved on Sunday a bill that would bar the release of Palestinian prisoners before the end of their sentences in an effort to prevent the implementation of future prisoner swap deals or the release of any prisoners as goodwill gestures in the context of political negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.

The bill was initiated by Member of Knesset Ayelet Shaked with the approval of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Seven ministers of the ministerial committee voted in favour of the bill, while three ministers opposed it: Yaakov Peri, Yael German and Tzipi Livni.

Netanyahu instructed the Likud members of the committee to support the proposed law, including: Uri Ariel, Uri Orbach, Gidon Sa’ar, Limor Livnat, Yair Shamir and Sofa Landver.

The law would restrict the Israeli president’s ability to grant amnesty to Palestinian prisoners by adding the phrase “complete life imprisonment” to court rulings issued against Palestinians in order to make it impossible to shorten their sentences or implement an early release.

The bill still needs to pass a series of votes in parliament to become law.

Source: Arabs 48.com