News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said Wednesday that he was "disturbed by the [government's] generosity and the desire to reach permanent agreements quickly" with the Palestinian Authority. Speaking at a study day in Tel Aviv University, the minister said: "Before Annapolis, if we go to Annapolis, it is important to give the Authority a boost and doff our hats for the efforts they will make, but we should take care to take off the hat without the head."

Dichter said he had a problem with the demands that Israel "show creativity" vis-à-vis the PA. "What does that mean?", he asked. "How many Palestinians were murdered because we didn't vacate outposts, as opposed to how many Israelis were killed because the Palestinians did not fulfill their end of the agreements?", he asked bitterly.

 Dichter also voiced opposition to releasing convicted terrorist Marwan Barghouti. "He may truly want peace, but we are not an experimental station for the Barghouti Center," he said.