I have several comments. While certainly some of the prisoners may be convicted of killing or injuring Israelis, as Israeli government spokesman David Bar-Ilan said in the report, there are at least four issues that Eric did not address or ask the Israeli government to comment on, but which are directly relevant to understanding the problem. B'Tselem, the United States Department of State, Amnesty International and others have all reported that Palestinians subject to the Israeli military courts which try cases in the occupied territories, are routinely denied the basic elements of due process, such as access to a lawyer, and the ability to examine evidence against them.
Torture is widespread.
Palestinian Authority officials, such as those Weiner may have spoken to in preparing the report, probably do not raise these issues, since their own human rights practices are just as questionable as those of the Israelis. Eric should have included the opinions of independent human rights monitors in the report. Only some of the prisoners Israel is refusing to release are convicted of violent activity. Others are convicted of membership in organizations or other political crimes. This was not made clear in Eric's report.