Fifty-five coalition MKs and ministers – including 11 ministers and 44 MKs – signed a letter sent to President Isaac Herzog in which they demand that he act to secure the release of Jewish security prisoners, against the backdrop of the release of Palestinian terrorists as part of the hostage deal.
The letter was signed by representatives from all coalition parties: Otzma Yehudit, Likud, Shas, United Torah Judaism and Religious Zionism. MK Moshe Solomon refused to sign the letter.
The letter sent to Herzog stated, “Recently, the government of Israel has been releasing thousands of terrorists. Needless to say, none of us wishes for the release of the horrific terrorists who harmed so many families in Israel, but failing to release the Jewish prisoners constitutes a policy of double standards toward them.”
“While these Jews languish in prison and their families suffer and are sometimes even harmed by terror, they see how terrorists, including vile murderers, make their way into the arms of their people and families to freedom. We call on you, Mr. President, to act immediately to release this handful of Jewish prisoners and to right this wrong.”
The initiator of the letter, MK Limor Son Har-Melech (Otzma Yehudit), said it was a moral and just call: “If they release murderous terrorists who return to terror again and again, and when it is clear to all that the terrorists released in this deal will return to terror, there is no moral justification for leaving Jews in prison who, even if they erred, pose no danger to the public. It is time to correct this injustice.”
The President of Israel has the power to commute prison sentences, albeit he does so only after the conclusion of all legal proceedings as part of the established policy. The president’s purview does not cover penalties imposed under Israel’s Order Regarding Security Provisions of 2009, which forms the basis for much of the IDF’s military court structure in Judea and Samaria. Many of the prisoners referred to by the letter were sentenced under such an order, either to administrative detention or for crimes in Judea and Samaria.