“The key to releasing the nationalist prisoners is in Ne’eman’s hands”

Bereaved families who suffered the loss of a member at the hands of terrorists and are working to secure the release of the Jewish nationalist prisoners point to Justice Minister Ya’akov Ne’eman as the one who can order their release. During the Succot holiday Ne’eman promised to promote their release, however to this day no decision has been reached by the Justice Ministry.
Since the Shalit Deal was implemented, in which hundreds of terrorists who were sentenced to life in prison were released, Honenu, along with bereaved families and other activists, have been working to secure the release of 11 Jewish nationalist prisoners who acted under extremely difficult security conditions and injured Arabs.
After many contacts and meetings between representatives of the bereaved families and the most high ranking authorities, it appears that the key to releasing the prisoners in the hands of Justice Minister Ya’akov Ne’eman.
During the Succot holiday the bereaved families met with Justice Minister Ne’eman in his succah. The minister obligated himself to reaching a decision on the matter of the Jewish nationalist prisoners in between one week’s and one month’s time.
To this day, approximately one and a half months after the meeting, a decision has not yet been reached.
The families of the prisoners and the bereaved families have held close to ten demonstrations opposite Ne’eman’s residence. Initially Ne’eman sent a message via his associates that he did not object to the demonstrations, however as time passed, the demonstrations grew larger. The police, apparently at the request of Justice Minister Ne’eman, began to clash with the demonstrators. At the last demonstration one of the demonstrators was arrested and given a restraining order by the court distancing him from Ne’eman’s residence.
David Libman, whose brother Shlomo, Hy”d, was murdered by terrorists who were released in the Shalit Deal, said that Ne’eman is the one who can release the Jewish nationalist prisoners. “They released my brother’s murderers, who were sentenced by the court to life in prison. The least that can be done now is to release the Jews who acted in response to their friends’ murders. We know from the most high ranking sources that Justice Minister Ne’eman is the one who can do it, and that everyone is waiting for him to order their release.”
Libman mentioned Gur Hammel, who killed an Arab near Itamar in response to the murder of his brother Shlomo, who was murdered in Yitzhar along with Harel Ben-Nun, and sentenced to serve a mandatory life sentence. “My brother’s murderers were released, but his friend who was driven to act in kind is sitting in prison. This is illogical and not right. Ne’eman is the one who can right the wrong and release the Jewish nationalist prisoners, and I hope that he will indeed order their release.”