Arutz-7's Emanuel Shilo spoke this morning with Minister without Portfolio Gideon Ezra, a former deputy head of the General Security Service. Shilo asked, "Why should we release Hamas prisoners, in light of Abu Mazen's refusal to disarm these organizations?"
Minister Gideon Ezra: "First of all, yes, at this point he is in fact refusing - but at this point, much of Yesha is not in his control, and he is making efforts to cover up for the behavior of Arafat, who is constantly breathing down his neck. We must show the Palestinian people that Abu Mazen's way is better than Arafat's, and to this end the topic of the partition and that of the prisoners - things that are not in the Road Map - are being raised. Regarding the Hamas prisoners that no one wants to release - the fact is that they were arrested by the Shabak (GSS), the information is in the hands of the Shabak, and if the Shabak says that they can be released, we can trust them."
Shilo: "What do you mean by that? The entire Oslo agreement was carried out under the watchful eye of the Shabak. It's not so reassuring to say that we should trust the Shabak."
Ezra: "I'm very glad you asked that. Yes, we have had experience with the Jibril agreement [400 terrorists released from prison by Yitzchak Rabin], and with Oslo. Some of them returned to terror activity, and others did not. The Shabak has standards by which to decide who will return to terror, and who won't. All of us want continued quiet and the end of terrorism. Prime Minister Sharon has spoken of concessions that we will have to make, and this is one of the smaller concessions that we will have to make. Therefore, there's no purpose in speaking in cliches, about whether Mahmoud or Ahmed will return to terrorism or not."
Shilo: "What about what this does to our deterrence? Every terrorist now knows that sooner or later he will get out."
Ezra: "You are certainly right... We're dealing here mostly with administrative detainees who in any event were likely to be released soon, where in any event there wasn't much deterrence. But don't think that I don't know that the pressures [to release others, including those who were recently sentenced to long terms] will start as soon as we finish releasing the first group. This is a very problematic issue; but we have no choice but to deal with it."
Shilo: "When the government approved the Road Map, it said that this time we will make sure that the PA fulfills all its obligations, and that we will not proceed if not. Has this been done, in your opinion?
Ezra: "So far, yes. We have performed gestures that were not included at all in the Road Map [such as releasing prisoners]... The government said it would not enter into any negotiations with the PA before they fulfill their obligations - and we are in fact not conducting diplomatic negotiations, and we will continue not to do so unless they fulfill their obligations..."