Israel Cabinet: Annapolis Represents Serious Negotiations With Palestinians

By Israel News Agency Staff

Jerusalem, Israel ---- November 20, 2007 ..... The following was communicated by the Israel Government Press Office to the Israel News Agency.

At the weekly Cabinet meeting held in Jerusalem, Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert deplored yesterday’s shocking incidents in which two elderly residents of Haifa were brutally assaulted and robbed.

Prime Minister Olmert briefed ministers ahead of the Annapolis Middle East Peace conference.
http://tinyurl.com/2u3n4b. The Israel Cabinet then discussed the issue. Prime Minister Olmert said that he regretted that there were those who were rushing to describe it in various ways, to try and minimize it and even to call against participating in it.

"The goal of the Annapolis meeting was made clear in advance and with precision by US President George Bush in the speech in which he called for convening the meeting," said Olmert."
"Since the speech, the importance of the meeting has grown, as has the understanding of the overwhelming majority of the international community that Annapolis will see the launch of the negotiations on the permanent agreement between us and the Palestinians - negotiations that have not been held in seven years. Annapolis is the beginning of a process."

"The meeting is designed to give international backing and support to the negotiations and will constitute the platform for a further series of processes. The negotiations between us and the Palestinians will begin after Annapolis. Given the complexity and sensitivity of the issues, these will be long, difficult, complicated and intensive negotiations. As on every issue, it is to be expected that there will be ups and downs, crises and disagreements and even painful compromises. This cannot be avoided. Annapolis and the process that starts there are the order of the day. The process that is designed to assure the future and the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state will start there.”

The Israel Cabinet discussed the release of Palestine prisoners and decided as follows: In the framework of the desire to advance and strengthen the dialogue between Israel and pragmatic elements in the Palestinian Authority (PA) led by Palestine President Abu Mazen and in the legitimate government led by Prime Minister Selim Fayyad, to recommend that the authorized bodies release approximately 500 Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, in accordance with the criteria that have been set in Israel Government decisions of 6.7.03 http://tinyurl.com/2zsb64, 27.7.03 http://tinyurl.com/3su97 and 13.2.05 http://tinyurl.com/ypnqus and to recommend the release of those Palestinian prisoners who constitute humanitarian cases due to special medical circumstances.

The Israel Ministerial Committee on the Release of Palestinian Prisoners will - at the behest of the Government - deal with the release of the Palestinian prisoners, the date of their release to be determined according to prevailing circumstances and while taking into account the fulfilling of the Palestinians’ commitments. The foregoing will be in accordance with the approved criteria and the guidelines of the Attorney General. The Committee will approve the list of prisoners.

The Israel Ministerial Committee will be able to make exceptions to the criteria for the percentage of sentence that has been served and of sentence that has yet to be served.

A coordinating committee, chaired by Israel Justice Ministry Director-General Moshe Shilo, will deal with actions related to carrying out the release, including formulating the list of prisoners who meet the release criteria. Representatives of all relevant bodies will participate in the committee.
The coordinating committee will deliver its recommendations and conclusions to the Ministerial Committee, which will be authorized to approve them on behalf of the Government.

The prisoner issue is one of utmost importance in Palestinian society. By releasing the Palestinian prisoners, the Government of Israel is interested in making it clear that it is aware of the importance of this issue and in underscoring the fact that it will be possible to release Palestinian prisoners through dialogue and not through violence or the abduction of soldiers.

In order to advance the diplomatic process with the Palestinians and in the hope of strengthening ties with PA President Abu Mazen and Palestinian Prime Minister Selim Fayyad, it has been proposed to release approximately 500 prisoners who do not belong either to Hamas or Islamic Jihad and who do not have blood on their hands. Similarly, it has been decided to consider the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel jails, who suffer from medical problems, on a humanitarian basis.

The Government of Israel wishes for the day on which abducted Israel Defense Forces soldiers Gilad Shalit, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser (<http://tinyurl.com/2atd8m>) who are being held by terrorist murderers. The Israel Government is investing maximum effort in bringing about their swift release.

The Israel Cabinet decided to establish a Ministerial Committee on the IDF Reserves and Benefits for Active Reservists. The goal of the decision is to strengthen and establish the principle of compensation and appreciation in the Government’s draft legislation through providing a ‘basket of benefits’, by Government ministries and the various authorities, to the reduced population that bears most of the reserve duty burden. Thus, the whole of society will express its appreciation both for the reserve system in general and those who bear most of the burden in particular. See <http://tinyurl.com/27rlyb> for further details.

Pursuant to the 1959 Israel Civil Service Law (Appointments) and in accordance with Israel Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On’s proposal, the Cabinet appointed Shuki Oren to - as of 9.12.07 - succeed Dr. Yaron Zelikha as Israel Finance Ministry Accountant-General, who will conclude his term on 7.12.07.

The Cabinet decided to ratify the Third Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions (<http://tinyurl.com/26t4yr>), as it was signed in Geneva on 8.12.05. Israel will attach the following declaration at the time of ratification: “The Government of Israel declares that while it honors the status of the new neutral distinctive emblem that has been added to the Third Additional Protocol of the 12.8.49 Geneva Conventions, regarding the adoption of an additional distinctive emblem, it understands that the ratification or implementation of the protocol will not affect, or constitute a renunciation of, any right that Israel has acquired in the wake of its reservations to the 12.8.49 Geneva Conventions.”

Pursuant to Article 4a(a) of the 1958 Israel Higher Education Council Law, the Cabinet decided to recommend that President Shimon Peres appoint Student Association Chairman Tomer Oved as a member of the Higher Education Council in place of outgoing Student Association Chairman Itay Barda.

The Israel Cabinet decided to add to the budget of Institute for Forensic Medicine.