The reported decision represents a shift in Israel’s stance on releasing Israeli Arab prisoners ahead of the peace talks, set to begin Tuesday in Washington. Last week, officials in Jerusalem said Israel would release 82 veteran Palestinian prisoners, gradually, during the negotiations but had not committed to releasing the Israeli Arab prisoners.For his part, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that he was expecting “good news” on Sunday when speaking to Arabic media in an ostensible reference to the freeing of the prisoners.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to authorize a ministerial team to handle the release of the Palestinian prisoners at his weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, the report added.
The release of the prisoners would begin when talks commence.Last Friday, US Secretary of State John Kerry announced in Amman that a basis for the resumption of negotiations had been worked out and that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators could be expected in Washington within just a few weeks. However, in the following days Palestinian officials claimed that the framework for the negotiations was not fully resolved — among them, the issue of releasing pre-Oslo Palestinian prisoners and using the 1967 lines as the basis for negotiations, which Israel has rejected.An Arab member of Knesset had told The Times of Israel already on Thursday that Kerry had promised Palestinian officials that peace negotiations would not resume before Israel agreed to release all 100-plus pre-Oslo prisoners. He said this group included 21 prisoners who are either Israeli citizens or Jerusalem residents and whom Israel has reportedly steadfastly refused to free as a goodwill measure to boost negotiations.MK Ibrahim Sarsur (Ra’am-Ta’al) said that intense pressure exerted by Palestinian politicians and Arab Israeli members of Knesset succeeded in convincing the Americans to accept the Palestinian precondition of releasing all Palestinian security prisoners sentenced in Israel before the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993. He made the comments after a press conference Thursday that was organized by the Arab Union of Prisoners and Liberated Prisoners, an NGO that deals with incarcerated Palestinians and their families within Israel.“An hour ago, Kerry asked the Palestinian side to send him the list [of prisoners] after reviewing it. He promised that he will not summon the sides to the first meeting of negotiations before granting the Palestinians Israel’s agreement to release the full list, not part of the list,” Sarsur told The Times of Israel following the press event.“An hour ago, Kerry asked the Palestinian side to send him the list [of prisoners] after reviewing it. He promised that he will not summon the sides to the first meeting of negotiations before granting the Palestinians Israel’s agreement to release the full list, not part of the list,” Sarsur told The Times of Israel following the press event.Israeli Minister of Intelligence and International Relations Yuval Steinitz told Israel Radio on July 20 that Israel would release prisoners involved in “serious cases” as part of the renewed talks, but did not specify an exact number of prisoners. Israeli media later cited 82 as the number to be released in four phases, as negotiations progress. That number reportedly excluded 14 prisoners with Israeli citizenship and 7 Jerusalem residents.Out of a total of roughly 5,000 Palestinians currently serving time in Israeli jails on security convictions, 140 hold Israeli citizenship. Fourteen of those prisoners were sentenced before the Oslo accords, signed between Israel and the PLO.