Marwan Barghouti should be freed by Israel immediately, says ex-Mossad head

A former head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, Ephraim Halevy, has called for Palestinian lawmaker Marwan Barghouti to be freed from prison immediately so that the Israeli government can engage in talks with him. Halevy made his comment during an interview on Israel’s Public Radio.

When asked what advice he would give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Halevy said that he would reiterate his call to free Barghouti, explaining that Israel frees many Palestinian prisoners every day “whose hands are stained with blood” and who belong to Hamas.

“Barghouti’s record is very bad, but there are those who are worse than him and are being released,” said Halevy. “Barghouti is popular with his people, he has a clear position, he speaks Hebrew well and can negotiate, all of which qualifies him to lead a new path.”

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The former Mossad head recalled the past of some Israeli leaders who belonged to Zionist terrorist organisations. “There is a history of people who were prisoners and later became prime ministers in Israel. Yes, let Barghouti be the next Palestinian [leader]. We have to be creative in dealing with the future in the West Bank as well and the rest of the territories, as there are millions of Palestinians, and transferring two million Palestinians from Gaza is unrealistic.”

He added that Israel now has no partner for dialogue other than Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who is 90 years old and has limited ability to lead the Palestinian people.

“Therefore, we must look for ways to think about something new and different from what they have thought about so far,” he added. “It seems to me that if we want to conduct practical negotiations, we need capable people on both sides. On the Israeli side, I do not want to express an opinion, but on the Palestinian side, if we free Marwan Barghouti today, and not just dozens of other [Palestinian resistance fighters], this will be something very worthy indeed.”

Halevy is a political opponent of Netanyahu and his coalition, and supports negotiations with the Palestinian Authority on a two-state solution. He enjoyed strong relations with ruling Arab regimes in neighbouring countries, and helped resolve the crisis between Jordan and Israel after the failed attempt to assassinate the former head of the Hamas political bureau, Khaled Meshaal, in Amman, in 1997.

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