The extreme-left Gush Shalom group and Gush Shalom members Uri and Rachel Avneri, Teddy Katz, and Adam Keller have filed a petition to the Supreme Court asking to be allowed to visit arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti. Barghouti is serving five life terms in prison for deadly terrorist attacks. He is considered a hero to many Palestinian Authority Arabs, and has ranked third in PA political polls.
The leftists argue that some of them consider Barghouti a personal friend, and have known him for several years. A group of leftists met Barghouti’s wife Fadwa in Ramallah in September, and say Fadwa told them that her husband wanted to meet them. Israeli citizens are not allowed to enter Ramallah, which is controlled by the PA.
Prison Services rejected the leftists’ request to meet with Barghouti, saying that security prisoners are only allowed to meet with members of their immediate families, their lawyers, the Red Cross, and Members of Knesset.