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| Prisoner Release Underscores Split in Israeli Coalition | Prisoner Release Underscores Split in Israeli Coalition |
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| JERUSALEM — The fractured politics of Israel’s governing coalition were spotlighted on Monday ahead of a second release of Palestinian prisoners, agreed to as part of peace talks brokered by the United States. | |
| The 26 prisoners, who are expected to be freed early Wednesday, were convicted of killing Israelis between 1984 and 1994, some in notorious attacks that are seared into the nation’s memory. All but two were serving life sentences — eight were imprisoned for killing more than one person — prompting emotional pleas from their victims’ relatives Monday for their release to be canceled. | |
| Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a Monday afternoon meeting of his Likud faction that the decision to release 104 prisoners in four bands over the nine-month duration of the talks — and avoid a freeze on settlement construction that the Palestinians initially demanded — was “one of the toughest” in his premiership. | |
| “My heart is with the bereaved families, and it pains me,” he said at the Likud meeting. “This decision is a necessity given the reality in which we live.” Addressing the harsh dissent voiced about the release in recent days from right-wing members of his government, Mr. Netanyahu said that since the decision had been made, all ministers “must act responsibly, with deliberation, and with a long-term perspective.” | |
| As relatives and supporters of the Palestinians — and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority — prepared to welcome the prisoners home, the Israeli military announced that two rockets were launched from Gaza into Israel early on Monday. No casualties were reported — one of the rockets was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system — but Israel retaliated with airstrikes that destroyed two rocket launchers in northern Gaza, according to a military statement. | As relatives and supporters of the Palestinians — and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority — prepared to welcome the prisoners home, the Israeli military announced that two rockets were launched from Gaza into Israel early on Monday. No casualties were reported — one of the rockets was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system — but Israel retaliated with airstrikes that destroyed two rocket launchers in northern Gaza, according to a military statement. |
| The renewed exchange of fire, the prisoner release, and an expected announcement this week of some 1,500 new apartments in Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank have become an almost ritual backdrop to secret peace talks entering a fourth month, which those involved say have yet to yield progress. | The renewed exchange of fire, the prisoner release, and an expected announcement this week of some 1,500 new apartments in Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank have become an almost ritual backdrop to secret peace talks entering a fourth month, which those involved say have yet to yield progress. |
| The prisoner releases have also become a regular opportunity for right-wing Israeli politicians who oppose any peace deal with the Palestinians to bash their colleagues. On Sunday, the conservative Jewish Home Party tried in vain to introduce legislation that would stop future releases, and its leader, Naftali Bennett, lashed out at Tzipi Livni, one of Israel’s lead negotiator, saying “stopping the release of murderers is even more important than justifying Livni’s presence in the cabinet.” | |
| Ms. Livni’s Facebook page quickly filled with vitriolic comments, including a death threat that her security detail reported to Israeli intelligence agencies. Ms. Livni, Israel’s justice minister, said at a Monday meeting of her Hatnua Party, that she had realized this week that “hypocrisy, feigned piety, and shirking responsibility don’t work.” | |
| Gideon Saar, a senior minister from the prime minister’s Likud Party, called Mr. Bennett’s words “an abomination,” and according to the Israeli daily Maariv, added, “If this decision is hard for you, then quit.” Yuval Steinitz, another Likud minister, said on Israel Radio, “The job of a responsible government is not to follow its heart but to see the overall picture.” | |
| Guy Ben-Porat, a professor of public policy at Ben Gurion University, was one of many Israeli political analysts who described the backlash from the Jewish Home Party and other conservatives as cynical, with ministers trying to both reap the benefits of remaining in the coalition and score political points with the public. | Guy Ben-Porat, a professor of public policy at Ben Gurion University, was one of many Israeli political analysts who described the backlash from the Jewish Home Party and other conservatives as cynical, with ministers trying to both reap the benefits of remaining in the coalition and score political points with the public. |
| “They position themselves as an alternative while still being inside the government,” he said. “They could have attacked Netanyahu directly — he’s the prime minister, he’s the one that orchestrated this bargain — but Livni’s an easier target. It’s a very, very cynical move.” | “They position themselves as an alternative while still being inside the government,” he said. “They could have attacked Netanyahu directly — he’s the prime minister, he’s the one that orchestrated this bargain — but Livni’s an easier target. It’s a very, very cynical move.” |
| Nahum Barnea, a columnist for Yediot Aharonot, called the criticism of Ms. Livni “cowardly,” hypocritical and exploitative of the victims’ relatives, saying that Mr. Bennett and his supporters should leave the government “if the prisoner release infuriates them so much.” | Nahum Barnea, a columnist for Yediot Aharonot, called the criticism of Ms. Livni “cowardly,” hypocritical and exploitative of the victims’ relatives, saying that Mr. Bennett and his supporters should leave the government “if the prisoner release infuriates them so much.” |
| Mr. Bennett, the economy minister, responded to the mounting criticism on Monday by saying, “We will not be silenced. We have our opinions and we are proud of them.” | |
| There is no sign that the coalition may actually break up, but if it did, Mr. Netanyahu could most likely form a new government by teaming with the ultra-Orthodox Shas party and perhaps the Labor Party, which has promised him a “safety net” to reach an agreement with the Palestinians. But ministers from Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu faction voted for the Jewish Home bill to block future prisoner releases, signaling that Mr. Lieberman, a former foreign minister who is on trial on fraud charges, may challenge Mr. Netanyahu for leadership of Israel’s right wing. | There is no sign that the coalition may actually break up, but if it did, Mr. Netanyahu could most likely form a new government by teaming with the ultra-Orthodox Shas party and perhaps the Labor Party, which has promised him a “safety net” to reach an agreement with the Palestinians. But ministers from Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu faction voted for the Jewish Home bill to block future prisoner releases, signaling that Mr. Lieberman, a former foreign minister who is on trial on fraud charges, may challenge Mr. Netanyahu for leadership of Israel’s right wing. |
| Abraham Diskin, a political scientist at Hebrew University, said the votes were “code” from Mr. Lieberman to Mr. Netanyahu, who teamed up for Israel’s most recent elections, meaning: “I am not a puppet. I can cause the government to collapse, or let me have the power I want from within.” | Abraham Diskin, a political scientist at Hebrew University, said the votes were “code” from Mr. Lieberman to Mr. Netanyahu, who teamed up for Israel’s most recent elections, meaning: “I am not a puppet. I can cause the government to collapse, or let me have the power I want from within.” |
| As the politicians bickered, relatives of the victims of the prisoners set for release said they felt betrayed by the government. “I’m disgusted by the squabble and verbal exchanges as if we are talking about tomatoes that we have to give or not give, and their price,” Meirav Osher, the daughter of an Israeli stabbed in the back by his Palestinian employee at a packing plant in the Jordan Valley in 1991, told the Israeli news site Ynet. “The justice system did no justice. They stuck one last knife in our back.” | As the politicians bickered, relatives of the victims of the prisoners set for release said they felt betrayed by the government. “I’m disgusted by the squabble and verbal exchanges as if we are talking about tomatoes that we have to give or not give, and their price,” Meirav Osher, the daughter of an Israeli stabbed in the back by his Palestinian employee at a packing plant in the Jordan Valley in 1991, told the Israeli news site Ynet. “The justice system did no justice. They stuck one last knife in our back.” |
| Relatives of the prisoners rejoiced. Hawla Azraq, whose brother is slated for release, told Ynet, “It’s a great achievement for us not only as a family, but as a people,” adding that the move would “boost this trust” among Palestinians for the possibility of peace. | |
| The prisoners, 21 from the West Bank and five from the Gaza Strip, are men between the ages of 38 and 58. The crimes for which they were convicted included the 1990 burning of a car in Gaza while a military reservist, Amnon Pomerantz, was inside; the 1993 stabbing of 23-year-old Yigal Vaknin, whose body was found near his home hours before the start of the Yom Kippur holiday; the ax murder of a 67-year-old Holocaust survivor, Isaac Rotenberg, in 1994; and the 1993 slaying of Ian Feinberg, a South Africa-born lawyer who was working with international aid organizations to build the economy of the Gaza Strip. | The prisoners, 21 from the West Bank and five from the Gaza Strip, are men between the ages of 38 and 58. The crimes for which they were convicted included the 1990 burning of a car in Gaza while a military reservist, Amnon Pomerantz, was inside; the 1993 stabbing of 23-year-old Yigal Vaknin, whose body was found near his home hours before the start of the Yom Kippur holiday; the ax murder of a 67-year-old Holocaust survivor, Isaac Rotenberg, in 1994; and the 1993 slaying of Ian Feinberg, a South Africa-born lawyer who was working with international aid organizations to build the economy of the Gaza Strip. |
| “We are simply giving up on everything that is important and dear to us,” Mr. Feinberg’s sister, Gila Molcho, was quoted as saying on Ynet. “And for what? One thousand houses? It would be better to write on all those houses the names of our loved ones, like the tombstones.” | “We are simply giving up on everything that is important and dear to us,” Mr. Feinberg’s sister, Gila Molcho, was quoted as saying on Ynet. “And for what? One thousand houses? It would be better to write on all those houses the names of our loved ones, like the tombstones.” |
Myra Noveck contributed reporting. | Myra Noveck contributed reporting. |