Minister Ezra (Likud) arrived at the new "disengagement" wing of the Maasiyahu Prison in Ramle yesterday, and met with three arrestees.
They were arrested 16 days ago for stopping traffic on the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, and are still in prison. The police had planned to keep them under house arrest, but the three said, "We're not the criminals here - it's rather those who are running this disengagement who are the criminals." They therefore refused to sign papers agreeing to house arrest.
Sources close to the case report the police are not happy with this turn of events, realize that this appears to be the beginning of a new trend, and are looking for a solution. Three girls arrested in Hevron earlier this week for building the Giborei Hevron outpost similarly refused to sign papers limiting their mobility, and are still in prison.
See separate story for additional details.
The father of one of the three Ayalon Highway youths told Arutz-7 what transpired during Minister Ezra's visit, based on what his son told him:
"[Minister Ezra] first asked routine questions, such as their names, where they're from, and why they think they were arrested. After they answered him, he then became an 'interrogator' and asked, 'How did you know how to get to the road-blocking?' They chose not to answer this question.
Then he asked, 'Do you believe there will be a disengagement?' They said, 'With G-d's help, there will not be. We have faith, and we will continue our activities to this end.'
Ezra said, 'How are you so sure that there won't be? The whole security establishment is prepared for it.' The youths responded, 'Arik Sharon might change his mind for whatever reason, just like he changed his mind before [by promoting this plan].'"
Minister Ezra then produced what he apparently thought was his best card: "You know that a rapist also believes in what he is doing?"
The shocked boys were silent and turned their backs on him. The father noted that it was actually the Prison Service official who intervened and told Minister Ezra that the cases were not exactly the same.
A call from Arutz-7 to Minister Ezra's spokesman as to why he made such a comparison produced a promise to check. A follow-up call a few hours later was greeted with, "I'm sorry, I don't have an answer yet."
Today, the boys wrote a sharp letter to Minister Ezra, in which they said:
They were arrested 16 days ago for stopping traffic on the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, and are still in prison. The police had planned to keep them under house arrest, but the three said, "We're not the criminals here - it's rather those who are running this disengagement who are the criminals." They therefore refused to sign papers agreeing to house arrest.
Sources close to the case report the police are not happy with this turn of events, realize that this appears to be the beginning of a new trend, and are looking for a solution. Three girls arrested in Hevron earlier this week for building the Giborei Hevron outpost similarly refused to sign papers limiting their mobility, and are still in prison.
See separate story for additional details.
The father of one of the three Ayalon Highway youths told Arutz-7 what transpired during Minister Ezra's visit, based on what his son told him:
"[Minister Ezra] first asked routine questions, such as their names, where they're from, and why they think they were arrested. After they answered him, he then became an 'interrogator' and asked, 'How did you know how to get to the road-blocking?' They chose not to answer this question.
Then he asked, 'Do you believe there will be a disengagement?' They said, 'With G-d's help, there will not be. We have faith, and we will continue our activities to this end.'
Ezra said, 'How are you so sure that there won't be? The whole security establishment is prepared for it.' The youths responded, 'Arik Sharon might change his mind for whatever reason, just like he changed his mind before [by promoting this plan].'"
Minister Ezra then produced what he apparently thought was his best card: "You know that a rapist also believes in what he is doing?"
The shocked boys were silent and turned their backs on him. The father noted that it was actually the Prison Service official who intervened and told Minister Ezra that the cases were not exactly the same.
A call from Arutz-7 to Minister Ezra's spokesman as to why he made such a comparison produced a promise to check. A follow-up call a few hours later was greeted with, "I'm sorry, I don't have an answer yet."
Today, the boys wrote a sharp letter to Minister Ezra, in which they said:
"Yesterday you met with us, and in response to our statement that we are believers, you asked, 'And a rapist doesn't believe in his way?' This question teaches us several important concepts. We learned that you don't know what faith and belief are. Faith is truth that lights up your life like a lighthouse; it's an ideal that totally fills you. It's the ambition to improve the world, the feeling of being willing to give your life for these ideals.
"For you, however, the concept of faith is a bit too big; in order to relate to it, you had to bring it down to the debased world in which you live. We are not blaming you; but it would be advisable for you, and for the State of Israel, to resign and find another job that is appropriate for people like you. The job of a Minister in the Government of Israel is something that is appropriate for bigger people...
"The truth will win. The light is already breaking through the clouds, and the salvation is practically at the door, may it come speedily in our days, Amen."