The Supreme Court is to decide Thursday whether five-time terrorist murderer Marwan Barghouti will be sent to solitary confinement.
Petitioners MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari, Itamar Ben-Gvir and the Save the Land of Israel Movement say that life-prisoner Barghouti should be placed in solitary confinement for having violated prison rules: He granted a series of unauthorized media interviews.
Barghouti, the Secretary-General of the Fatah-Tanzim terrorist organization, was arrested in 2002 and accused of 37 murderous attacks and attempted murders. He was also noted for having said, "After we attain a Palestinian state [in Judea and Samaria], there will be greater things for which to strive... There is no room for more than one state between the Jordan and the Mediterranean." He was sentenced in 2004 to five life sentences plus 40 years, but was acquitted of 33 attacks because the evidence showed only his “indirect involvement.”
His popularity was such that his name was long mentioned as a possible successor to Yasser Arafat as head of the Palestinian Authority. His release from prison is demanded by Hamas, along with nearly 1,000 other terrorist prisoners, in exchange for captive Gilad Shalit.
Even after the petition against his interviews was submitted, Barghouti continued to be interviewed, calling for violence and inciting against Israel. The petitioners presented a long list of prisoners who committed the same violation – granting unauthorized interviews – and were harshly punished.
The State’s response to the petition is that it is considering its steps vis-à-vis Barghouti’s violations.
Ben-Gvir said, “The letter of the law, as well as justice, integrity and the State of Israel’s basic values require us to relate to Barghouti in at least the same way as to any other prisoner who violates rules and ignores prison laws. The Israel Prison Service’s weak-kneed behavior gives a message of helplessness and capitulation to a vile terrorist.”