It may sound odd to release convicted murderers in an effort to reach peace, but that’s what the Israeli government was forced to do Monday. 26 prisoners were approved to be released, including terrorists with blood on their hands, Ynet reported.
A statement from the Israelis said the decision was made on the wake of the resumption of diplomatic negotiations with the Palestinians. The release is part of a gesture to bring the Palestinians back to the peace talks after they had boycotted them for years.
The situation is clearly a double-edge sword. While real peace between Israel and the Palestinians would be good for the Middle East and potentially help in the campaign against terrorists and Iran’s nuclear program, it also risks a spike in violence if Palestinian rejectionists try to derail the peace talks.
In addition, a premature deal that doesn’t adequately protect Israel’s security could also result in more conflict. That would be bad for oil prices and could encourage global terrorism. Certainly releasing terrorists now doesn’t sound like a very promising start.
At least Israel is trying to protect itself. Said their statement, “If any of the released prisoners return to hostile activity against the State of Israel, they will be returned to continue serving their sentences.”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, August 12, 2013)