Fifty-five coalition members have submitted a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog requesting he pardon Jewish security prisoners in the wake of the recent release of thousands of Palestinian terrorists from Israeli prisons as part of the ceasefire with Hamas, Israeli media reported on Tuesday.
The letter, signed by 11 ministers and 44 lawmakers, was initiated by Knesset Member Limor Son Har-Melech of the Otzma Yehudit Party, together with Honenu, a nonprofit dedicated to providing legal support to Israelis charged with violence against Palestinians, according to Ynet.
The request came on the backdrop of earlier reports that Herzog was weighing a possible move to ease the sentences of Jewish security prisoners, as well as shorten the sentence of Ami Popper, according to the report.
Popper is serving 40 years in prison for killing seven Palestinians at a bus stop in the city of Rishon Lezion in 1990.
The letter, however, is asking the president to grant a pardon to all 25 Jewish security prisoners, or at least to release some of them.
“In recent days, the Israeli government has been releasing thousands of terrorists,” the document opens, per Ynet.
“Needless to say, none of us wishes to see the release of these heinous terrorists who have harmed so many families in Israel. However, the refusal to release the Jewish prisoners constitutes a policy of double standards toward them,” the letter continues.
“As these Jews languish in prison, leaving behind suffering families—some of whom are themselves victims of terrorism—they watch as terrorists, including vile murderers, make their way back to their people and families, to freedom. We call upon you, Mr. President, to act immediately for the release of this handful of Jewish prisoners and to correct this injustice.”
Har-Melech told Ynet: “If murderous terrorists who have returned to terrorism time and again are being released—including the murderers of my husband, may his memory be blessed—and when it is clear to everyone that the terrorists released in this deal will also return to terrorism, there is no moral justification for keeping Jews in prison who, even if they erred, pose no danger to the public. It’s time to correct this injustice.”
Lawmaker Gilad Kariv of The Democrats Party called on Herzog to reject the request. “There are societies that turn murderers into heroes, and there are societies that sanctify life and cast out criminals from among them. The demand by most coalition members fits our enemies—not a society founded on the moral values of Jewish tradition and the rule of law in the State of Israel,” he told Ynet.
