Israeli Arab lawmaker Ahmad Tibi of the Hadash-Ta’al Party has turned to the Supreme Court in an attempt to gain access to convicted Palestinian murderers, including arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti.
Israel Hayom reported on Sunday that Tibi filed a petition with the High Court of Justice against National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the prisons. In the petition, Tibi complains that the former has failed to respond to his repeated demands to visit security prisoners.
“MK Tibi has contacted the minister six times, demanding to meet with the late Walid Deka and the prisoner Marwan Barghouti,” an attorney for the lawmaker charged in court filings.
The petition also claimed that Tibi’s ability to meet with terrorists is “essential” and accuses Ben-Gvir of obstructing “effective parliamentary oversight of the conditions of confinement of Palestinian prisoners.”
Deka, an Israeli Arab terrorist who died of cancer earlier this month, was serving a life sentence for his involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Israel Defense Forces soldier Moshe Tamam in 1984.
Marwan Barghouti was one of the leaders of the First and Second Intifadas, in which terrorists killed and wounded thousands of Israelis.
In January 2023, Ben-Gvir announced the cancelation of a regulation implemented by the previous government that allowed any Israeli lawmaker to meet with jailed Palestinian terrorists. Ben-Gvir said that he took the step after “concluding that these visits resulted in incitement and the promotion of terrorist actions.”
The visitation policy reverted back to that of the past when only one legislator from each political party was permitted to meet with imprisoned terrorists, and under “appropriate supervision.”
Since Hamas started the war on Oct. 7, thousands of terrorists have been arrested. Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed government ministries to prepare prisons for an influx of thousands more expected to be arrested this year.
