55 lawmakers call on Herzog to release Jewish security prisoners

By Sam Sokol 28 October 2025, 1:16 pm

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Amiram Ben Uliel, convicted of the Duma arson murder in July 2015, in which three members of the Dawabsha family were killed, attends a hearing on his appeal, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, on March 7, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Fifty-five coalition lawmakers and MKs sign a letter calling on President Isaac Herzog to release Jewish security prisoners held in Israelis jails in the wake of the recent ceasefire deal which saw hundreds of Palestinian terrorists responsible for dozens of deadly terror attacks freed in return for the release of hostages.

The letter, an initiative of far-right Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech, says that while its signatories do not in any way agree with the actions of those on whose behalf they are advocating, it is wrong that they remain in prison while Palestinian terrorists are freed to return to their families.

The letter is signed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Settlements and National Projects Minister Orit Strock, Transportation Minister Miri Regev, Culture Minister Miki Zohar and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, among others.

Among the lawmakers who signed the letter are members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, Religious Zionism, Otzma Yehudit, Shas and United Torah Judaism.

“In recent days, the government of Israel has been releasing thousands of terrorists. It goes without saying that none of us desires the release of the terrible terrorists who have harmed so many families in Israel. However, the failure to release the Jewish prisoners constitutes a policy of discrimination against them,” the letter states.

“A high percentage of released terrorists return to the path of terrorism while none of these Jewish prisoners have ever committed similar acts,” the letter claims. “We call on you, Mr. President, to act immediately to release this handful of Jewish prisoners and to correct this injustice.”

Herzog has recently indicated that he is considering commuting the prison sentence of convicted mass murderer Ami Popper, who massacred Palestinian workers at a bus stop in Rishon Lezion in 1990, in one of the largest cases of Jewish terrorism in Israel’s history.

According to the Ynet news site, which first published the letter, it was the initiative of both Son Har-Melech and the Honenu legal aid organization, which advocates on behalf of multiple Jewish security prisoners, including Amiram Ben Uliel, who was convicted in 2020 of killing three members of the Palestinian Dawabsha family in a 2015 arson attack.

Son Har-Melech has previously called Ben Uliel a “holy righteous man” whose imprisonment was a “crime.”