Israeli officials announced Thursday evening that a fourth round of releases of Palestinian prisoners, planned as part of ongoing negotiations with the Palestinian Authority and scheduled for Saturday evening, has been delayed. The plan called for the release of 26 prisoners, all of whom have been convicted of serious terrorism related crimes, but a five-minister committee chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu which is tasked with choosing which prisoners to release did not meet on Wednesday, making a Saturday release impossible because not enough time remains for necessary legal appeals to be made. Justice Minister Tzipi Livni recently said that the agreed upon schedule for prisoner releases was never an “automatic commitment to release prisoners unrelated to making progress in negotiations” and several ministers have voiced opposition to the release in recent days, citing the failure of the PA to fulfill any of its own commitments. Read More
