Yaakov Neeman
Yaakov NeemanFlash 90

About fifty people demonstrated on Thursday evening outside the home of Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman in Jerusalem, demanding the release of Jewish prisoners.

The demonstrators held signs which read “release Jewish prisoners,” and “release Jews and not terrorists,” among other signs.

The demonstrators included families of prisoners as well as families of terror victims. Neeman would not step outside his home to speak with the protesters.

Thursday’s protest was the third time in recent weeks that demonstrators gathered outside the home of the Justice Minister.

On October 16, a commotion broke out outside Neeman’s home when a group of nationalists demonstrated outside, calling for Jewish security prisoners to be released in place of the Arab terrorists that were released as part of the Gilad Shalit deal.

The police dispersed the demonstrators within a few minutes. Some of the activists were able to reach the front door of the minister’s home but were stopped by security forces.

A day later, a group of family and friends of Dennis Alhazov, a Border Police officer currently serving a prison sentence for killing an Arab, protested outside Neeman’s home.

The protesters demanded Alhazov’s release from prison, telling Ne'eman that since Israel was releasing Arab terrorists as part of the deal to release Gilad Shalit, there is no reason not to release a soldier who acted out of ideological motives and whose actions do not compare with those of the arch-murderers being released as part of the Shalit deal.

Meanwhile, Ilan Grapel was released from an Egyptian jail and boarded a jet bound for Israel on Thursday afternoon, as a part of an exchange for 25 Egyptians held in Israeli prisons.