Terrorists in Israeli prisons do not belong in college classes, as so many currently are, according to MK Miri Regev. “They should not be studying, they should be rotting in jail,” the Likud MK asserted.
Regev, along with other MKs, is appealing the policy of the Israel Prisons Service to provide a first-class college education to terrorists in Israeli prisons for undertaking attacks in which Israelis were killed. The policy was halted during the period that kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit was being held by Hamas.
Arab MKs are demanding that the policy be reinstated. Several terrorists have appealed to be allowed to return to classes, but the High Court has accepted the state's position that such prisoners, as opposed to criminals, should not receive free college educations. The High Court is scheduled to consider the matter next June.
“We must prepare for this discussion,” Regev said. “Who is paying for these studies? What do Al Qaeda terror prisoners in the United States study, if anything? What rights do these terrorists actually have? I am working on developing an organized guide for government organizations, based on current laws, on what is required and what is not,” she said.
According to Arab MK Basal Ghattas (Balad), there is no place to dispute the college educations being given for free to terrorists, as “education is a basic right. When the state decided to hold off on classes for prisoners it was during the period that Gilad Shalit was being held by Hamas, but that is now in the past. Preventing further education would be an additional punishment for no reason.”