Rivlin: If Elected, I Won’t Prevent Barghouti’s Release
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MK Ruby Rivlin, who will apparently face Minister Shimon Peres in the upcoming election for Israel’s next President, says he won’t stand in the way of a government decision to free murderous terrorist Marwan Barghouti.
It appears that the Knesset will choose from between MK Rivlin (Likud) and Deputy Prime Minister Peres (Kadima) when it elects Israel’s 9th President this coming July.
Rivlin, who served as Knesset Speaker from 2003-2006, met over the past few days with a delegation of foreign ambassadors and delegates in the Knesset. He told them that though he objects to an early release for arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti, he would not – by refusing to sign a pardon – veto a government decision to free him.
Barghouti is currently in Israeli jail, serving five life sentences for murderous terrorist attacks he organized; the evidence was insufficient to convict him on charges of over 25 other murders. Fatah and Hamas demand his release, among many hundreds of others, in exchange for progress on the diplomatic front and in exchange for the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.
Rivlin said that despite his personal opinion on Barghouti, he sees the Presidency as a public and non-political position, and would therefore not use his powers to thwart a governmental decision.
Rivlin’s aides emphasized later that the candidate is “consistent in his principled position that the President must not involve himself in political and security matters. Regarding pardons, the President must merely fulfill the government’s position; he need not have an opinion of his own, and he must be above all societal conflict.”
Rivlin’s view of the Presidency was the accepted one until Ezer Weizman assumed the office in 1993. He was widely criticized for some of his strong political statements – and for his refusal to grant pardons to certain terrorists. The incumbent, Moshe Katzav, has been more tempered in his statements, but has not hesitated to express himself on political issues.