Deputy defense minister: I’ll quit over prisoner release

Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon threatened to resign Wednesday if the government went ahead with a scheduled prisoner release, saying that it was clear that nothing would come of the negotiations with the Palestinians.

“I have come to a decision: I will not be part of the executive branch — the cabinet — if it approves and goes through with an additional prisoner release as part of the ‘fourth round’ that is supposed to take place on the 28th of this month,” he wrote in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “The day that the first Palestinian murderer walks free from prison, I will submit a letter of resignation from my post of deputy defense minister of the Israeli government.”

He went on to say that the logic of those who support the release did not hold water.

“Those who supported the release claimed that it is a worthwhile price to pay for the hope of advancing peace with the Palestinians,” he wrote. “In the meantime it has become clear that, as expected, the Palestinians took advantage, and not for the first time, of our desire for peace and naivete, to trick us. They pretended to negotiate, and we released vile murderers.”

Israel agreed to the release of 104 long-serving Palestinian prisoners in four stages as part of a package to relaunch peace talks last July. But after carrying out the first three releases, some Israeli officials, including Israel’s chief negotiator, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, have cast doubt on prospects that the government will go through with the fourth, as the Palestinians have said that they would not agree to continue negotiating past an April deadline unless Israel freezes settlement construction and agrees to release even more prisoners.

Speaking to a conference on Tuesday, Livni said Jerusalem had never committed to the prisoner release.

“The key to the prison where the Palestinian prisoners are being held” is in the hands of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, she maintained, referring to his decision on whether or not to continue talks.

That said, Danon still took a shot at Livni when he announced his intentions at a meeting with families of terror victims Wednesday.

“In recent weeks, Mahmoud Abbas has been unmasked, and it is clear that nothing will come of the negotiations,” he said. “I will not sit in a government that releases terrorists in exchange for the fantasies of Tzipi Livni. There is a limit to how often you can be suckers for Livni and Erekat’s smiles.”

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.