Ron Kerman, whose 17-year-old daughter, Tal, was killed in the 2003 bombing of bus line 37 in Haifa, told Arutz Sheva Thursday that he fully supported Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon’s declaration that he would resign his post if the government went ahead with yet another round of releasing terrorists.
The only reason talks with the Palestinian Authority were still going on, Danon said, was so that PA chief Mahmoud Abbas could secure the release of another group of terrorists, one of the “gestures” Israel made last year to encourage Abbas to restart the talks after a three year hiatus. “I will not sit in a government that releases terrorists in exchange for Tzipi Livni’s fantasies,” Danon said Wednesday. “There is a limit to how much we can pay like suckers, in return for the smiles of (Tzipi) Livni and (Chief PA negotiator Saeb) Erekat.”
Kerman said that he had once been hopeful that after seeing how terrorists released in the past had returned to attacking Israelis, the government would come to its senses and stop releasing terrorists. “I was wrong,” he said.
However, Kerman is still remaining optimistic – and is hopeful that the government will wake up now, at this late date. “The PA has already said that it will quit the talks after the fourth installment of the release of terrorists,” Kerman said. “Why are we closing our eyes to this?” The next round of terrorist releases is set for the end of March.
Several of the terrorists said to be on the newest release list are Israeli residents, mostly from Jerusalem. “The PA’s demand to release these prisoners is a gross attempt by the PA to interfere in internal Israeli matters,” he said. “These are Israeli citizens who participated in terror attacks.
“All these releases have proven very unhealthy for us,” he said. “Have we not learned from history? I fully support Danny Danon on this and I hope that the government will not go ahead with this release. If we do not respect ourselves, who will?”
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