JERUSALEM—The Israeli cabinet on Sunday approved a proposed bill that would enable judges to prevent the release of terrorists convicted of murder as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the Palestinians.
The controversy echoes somewhat the debate in the United States over the release of five senior Taliban prisoners in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who had been held captive for five years.
In the 15-6 cabinet vote, ministers opposing the bill said it would tie the government’s hands in future peace talks by removing a strong incentive for the Palestinians to enter into negotiations.
"It undermines the chances for a future diplomatic agreement," said Science Minister Yaacov Perry, a former head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service.
The right-wing legislators who initiated the bill, which has yet to be debated by the Knesset, said they were motivated by the release of 78 Palestinian prisoners in the past year as part of talks with the Palestinian Authority, which eventually collapsed. Many of the prisoners had been convicted of murder.
"This bill will put an end to the ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card for murderers," said Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the Habayit Hayehudi Party, which initiated the bill.
Under the proposal, judges would be permitted, when sentencing murderers, to stipulate that Israel’s president will not have the power to commute the sentence, which he presently has. This power has been exploited periodically over the years by Israeli governments in prisoner exchanges or for encouraging diplomatic talks.
Although the bill theoretically extends to all murderers, including Israelis, the goal of those who proposed it is to prevent Israeli governments from releasing Palestinians convicted of murder in exchange for political concessions from the Palestinian political leadership.
There was no apparent intention to prevent a prisoner exchange such as the release of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners three years ago for the captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, who had been held by Hamas for five years.