http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Bayit-Yehudi-furious-as-Netanyahu-delays-vote-on-limiting-prisoner-releases-355020Gayit Yehudi furious as Netanyahu delays vote on limiting prisoner releases
By LAHAV HARKOV
06/01/2014
Party source says PM "gave into pressure from the Left and attorney-general" to set back general ministerial vote on legislature limiting presidential pardons.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is caving in to the left by delaying the vote on limiting presidential pardons until next week, Bayit Yehudi sources said Sunday.
Netanyahu did not give a reason for the delay, but promised Economy Minister Naftali Bennett that he would bring the bill to a vote next week and support it.
The legislation in question, proposed by Bayit Yehudi faction chairwoman Ayelet Shaked and MK David Tsur (Hatnua), was submitted in light of the prisoner releases in the latest round of talks with the Palestinians. The bill would allow courts to sentence "special case" murderers to life in prison without an option of being pardoned by the president. It would only apply to those sentenced in the future, not current prisoners, who could still be used as bargaining chips in negotiations.
The bill was supposed to go to a general ministerial vote Sunday, which it was expected to pass, but Peri criticized the measure and Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein said he found "legal difficulties" with it and wondered why the government would want to tie its own hands in negotiations, Netanyahu said he would like to consult with the Shamgar Committee on prisoner exchanges.
Shaked told The Jerusalem Post that Shamgar is only tangentially related to the bill, because the panel reviewed options of releasing prisoners to bring back captive soldiers, whereas her legislation refers freeing murderers as a part of diplomatic negotiations.
"I don't know what got into [Netanyahu]; I really can't explain it, but at least he'll support the bill next week," Shaked said.
Shaked added: "For the last year and a half I and Bennett and Tsur and MK Elazar Stern (Hatnua) wanted the government to discuss the Shamgar Committee, so at least we gained that."
A senior Bayit Yehudi source said the party's leadership is "annoyed" and that Netanyahu broke his promise to bring the proposal to a vote on Sunday.
"He gave in to pressure from the Left and Weinstein," the source said.
The presidential pardon bill was supposed to be part of a compromise between the Bayit Yehudi and Yesh Atid to get past their legislative deadlock of the last few weeks. While each party would vote against the other's controversial bills, they would not block each other's proposals with ministerial appeals. As such, a proposal allowing singles and same-sex couples to become parents via surrogacy was approved by the ministers.
However, with the delay on the presidential pardon bill, "there is no deal anymore. Netanyahu ruined it," the Bayit Yehudi source said.
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