In the shadow of the war and the promotion of the prisoner and prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, a particularly outrageous proposal was published, according to which Israel is willing to release some 20 young Arab women from Israel who are detained on suspicion of identification with the Hamas terrorist organization.
This idea gives Israeli Arabs the impression that the goal is to label the Arab public in Israel as supporting Hamas, rather than promoting the deal.
Throughout history, successive Israeli governments have opposed any Palestinian organization or body negotiating on behalf of the security prisoners, because they are citizens of the state and so as not to create a precedent.
The families of the young suspects did well to respond to the Arab leadership's call to refuse the offer and inform Israeli officials.
The detainees – or "prisoners," as they were called – are young Israeli citizens. They have the presumption of innocence as they are suspects and not convicted. They were not sentenced, some were charged with counts for which it is doubtful that they will be convicted, and we all know how most of the charges against defendants in the country change as soon as the trial begins, even for traffic offenses.
Before the indictment, their arrests look more like show arrests than arrests for dangerousness, as evidenced by the images circulated by the Israeli police: they are seen handcuffed and legged with the Israeli flag in the background. In this way, pictures of suspects or defendants are not distributed.
The refusal to accept the offer of release has nothing to do with the desire to release all abductees held by Hamas, regardless of gender affiliation or age group. The abductees must be released, as soon as possible, and if Israel wants to pay a price in return, let it release Palestinian prisoners, not Israeli citizens, and certainly not defendants who have the right of innocence.
We must sever ties between Hamas and Israeli Arabs, and this is in the interest of the state first and foremost. Beyond the truth itself – that these are not criminal prisoners, and certainly not those with blood on their hands – creating an identity between Israeli Arabs and Hamas terrorists is liable to introduce ideas into the consciousness of Israeli Arabs.
Before the indictment, their arrests look more like show arrests than arrests for dangerousness, as evidenced by the images circulated by the Israeli police: they are seen handcuffed and legged with the Israeli flag in the background. This is not how images of suspects or defendants are disseminated
The Arab-Israeli prisoners are in prison because they identified with Hamas, and when the State of Israel wants to release them as a "representative of Hamas," it causes the Arab-Israeli public to rejoice as Hamas does upon their release.
It may cause a public that has proven loyalty to the state and that pays taxes to begin to feel greater identification with a terrorist organization, and perhaps even think that anyone who ever thinks of carrying out an attack will soon be released thanks to such deals.
It is better to concentrate on the number of murdered Arab-Israelis who testify to their shared destiny, on the mobilization of the sector to assist in many fields, from medicine to the provision of various services, and on the great solidarity it has shown.
There is no shortage of representation in prisoner deals, no embrace of leaders and a few warm words for 2 million citizens.
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