According to Haaretz, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is planning another release of terrorist prisoners as a “gesture” to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.  Olmert is reportedly considering a request from PA head Salam Fayyad, who said that Israel should release 2,000 prisoners.  Olmert has not yet decided how many or which terrorists to release.

A source quoted in Haaretz said that the prisoner release was needed in part “because in Annapolis there will not be solutions for the core issues.”  As “core issues” such as the status of Jerusalem will not be discussed, the PA needs to show some other sort of accomplishment, such as the release of terrorists, the source said.  Olmert said Sunday that “core issues” would be discussed at Annapolis.