Sept. 28, 2007 (LPAC)--Israeli Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer calls for the release of Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti from Israeli prison. "Marwan Barghouti is, in my opinion, the next leader of the Palestinians," Ben-Eliezer told the Israeli daily Ha'aretz. "I say there is no need to be alarmed, and that it is possible to talk about the possibility of releasing him. I would consider it. In my opinion, this move is legitimate, even though this person has been convicted of charges that are very grave, and I don't make light of them."

Ben-Eliezer said that some Israelis might have a "psychological repugnance" about releasing Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences for murder, but added "I don't have any psychological repugnance of that sort. What I find repugnant is the future we are creating for our children. It is necessary to talk about everything and to examine everything, and to see what is good for the State of Israel."

Barghouti is a prominent leader of Fatah, and calls for his release have been made by Lyndon LaRouche and former Secretary of State James Baker III. Prof. Ahmed Al Kedidi, one of panelists at the Sept. 15-16 Schiller Institute conference on the Eurasian Land-Bridge in Kiedrich Germany, is also a major advocate of Barghouti's release.

Underscoring Barghouti's importance, Ben-Eliezer said, "In my opinion, there is a triangle here, whether or not we like to talk about it, that includes [President] Abu Mazen, [Prime Minister] Salam Fayyad, and Marwan Barghouti... No one should think that anything can happen without Barghouti... Barghouti, in my best estimation, is in fact the tough side of the triangle, that wins a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of respect, not only because of the fact that he is in prison, but rather because, as jargon has it, 'he is the cleanest of them all.' But you have to remember that we are also talking about a leader, who, even when he is a prisoner, should not be not be scorned and should be listened to. He is also the only leader for whom Hamas maintains a great deal of respect, and I daresay there is even some awe of him in Hamas."

In motivating his call for Barghouti's release, Ben-Eliezer said that as a security-minded person, "we must look 10 years ahead. We must make an accounting of how much longer we will continue to keep our children in a situation of 50 days of reserve duty a year, and until when we will be investing everything we have in the issue of security.... We have to look at Barghouti attentively, even when he is a prisoner. And we have to see how we hold a dialogue with him and how we find the opening through which the peace process will also occur. We aren't dismissing anything."