Israel votes on prisoner release

The Israeli Cabinet Sunday was set to vote for the release of 104 Palestinian prisoners ahead of renewed Middle East peace talks, officials said. "This is an incredibly difficult decision. It is painful for the bereaved families, it is painful for the whole nation of Israel and it is very painful for me," Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu wrote in a letter to the Israeli public prior to the Cabinet meeting. Netanyahu was referring to plans to release 104 Palestinian and Israeli Arab prisoners incarcerated before the 1993 Oslo Accords. The prisoners are responsible for the killings of Israeli civilians and soldiers. Initially, Israel had agreed to release 82 prisoners but increased the number. The vote comes days before Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and special envoy Yitzhak Molho, are to meet in Washington. The Cabinet voted in favor of a referendum bill allowing the public to vote on withdrawing from sovereign Israeli territory in any final-status agreement with the Palestinians, Ynetnews.com, Israel Radio and Haaretz reported. The bill includes Jerusalem and the Golan Heights but not the West Bank, Israel Radio said. The prisoner release was one of the Palestinians' key demands for the resumption of talks, and they received U.S. guarantees for the release, Israel Radio said. Netanyahu said he may defer the release of the Israeli Arab prisoners to a later date, Israel Radio and Ynetnews.com said. He also plans to establish a special governmental committee to review the list of prisoners to be set free. At the start of the Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said, "This moment is not easy for me, it is not easy for the ministers, and particularly not easy for the bereaved families, which I sympathize with. Sometimes you need to make tough decisions for the better of the entire State, and this is one of those moments," Ynetnews.com reported. The release of the Palestinian prisoners is expected to take place in four parts, during the early stages of peace talks, and prior to a permanent status agreement between the sides.