The Shas Party has decided to support the release of Arab terrorists as a gesture to US President George W. Bush, but will ask Prime Minister Olmert to demand the release of Israeli citizen Jonathan Pollard from a maximum-security prison in the United States.
Shas leader Eli Yishai told Army Radio the party opposes the release of prisoners with blood on their hands, but said the release of Pollard and IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, currently held hostage by Hamas, could lead the party to "rethink" its position.
Pollard was convicted of spying for Israel in 1986 and was sentenced to life imprisonment, and successive Israeli governments have failed to demand his release from four US presidents.