Unlike previous releases, the terrorists who are scheduled to be freed reportedly will include those involved in terrorist attacks that took place after the September 1993 Oslo accords were signed, and will also include members of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist groups, which have murdered nearly 300 Israelis in the past six years.
Murder is murder.
Releasing imprisoned murderers sends a dangerous message to terrorists everywhere that even when they kill or maim innocent men, women, and children, they may only spend a short time in prison. Releasing murderers gives them the opportunity to murder again. Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis learned that bitter lesson in the notorious case of Willie Horton, a murderer whom he released, and who killed again. Yasir Arafat also recently gave the PLO's highest honor, the 'Order of Jerusalem', to Khalid al-Ra'i, a freed terrorist who had murdered an Israeli policeman. Gallup interviewed a representative sample of 512 Israeli adults.