More than a hundred activists gathered Sunday to show their ire across from government offices near the Knesset as ministers voted to release terrorist prisoners with blood on their hands in order to talk “peace” with the Palestinian Authority.
The protests are continuing, with a new rally scheduled to begin Monday evening led by the founders of the Koby Mandell Foundation -- the parents of Koby Mandell, one of two teenagers murdered by terrorists in cold blood on the outskirts of the Jewish Judean community of Tekoa where he lived in eastern Gush Etzion.
Jeff Daube, chairman of the Israel office of the Zionist Organization of American, told Arutz Sheva at Sunday's demonstration, “We are here demonstrating to let the government know that under no circumstances should we release prisoners that have Jewish blood on their hands.”
Another protester, Canadian citizen Chaya Gross, said she was “proud to be a Canadian, as opposed to being an American.” She added that most of the protesters were aware that “Kerry is only bringing a message from Obama – Obama is not good for the Jews. We know that this deal is a non-starter,” she said. “There’s no reason that we should give up anything for negotiations.”
Meir Indor, chairman of the Almagor Terror Victims Organization, expressed the outrage of families who lost loved ones to terror attacks and who now face the prospect of watching their killers walk free.
A "civil fight against terrorism"
“We want to see the prime minister keep his word, to keep what he promised to us, what he promised to me at a personal meeting, that he’s not going to release terrorists,” Indor told Arutz Sheva. “If he cannot stand up to Kerry’s pressure, there are other people who will do the job,” he said.
Indor, a high-ranking retired military officer, declared, “This is a civil fight against terrorism. I am continuing what I did 30 years ago. I was wounded during a fight against four terrorists, and I am here to continue the fight against those who want to escape from jail.”
Daube observed, “The American government -- I know -- has been putting a tremendous amount of pressure on the Israeli government to release these prisoners as a precondition to negotiations. [But] if these were negotiations with a true peace partner we would not have to release murderers, I’m sorry.
“I do believe that this is not a political issue. The reason why we are here is because this is a moral issue. This is also a security issue. With the rate of recidivism at what it is for released terrorists, you can be assured that this is a matter of pikuach nefesh – of endangerment of Jewish life – therefore these prisoners should not be released.
“Suicide is not part of my daily routine,” Daube said simply.