JERUSALEM, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Israel's defense establishment recommends
the government to refrain from making further goodwill gestures to Palestinian
National Authority (PNA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas until after the U.S.-sponsored
peace conference, local Jerusalem Post reported on Friday.
The goodwill gestures being considered pending a successful outcome to the
peace summit include releasing more security prisoners, removing roadblocks and
transferring additional territory and West Bank villages to PNA security
control.
The government is also considering a freeze in settlement construction.
"There is no need to make concessions ahead of the summit," a senior
security official was quoted by the paper as saying.
"The Palestinians will quickly forget what we gave them before the summit
and it is important to create incentives for Abbas to make the summit work," he
added.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced recently that he planed to
release 400 security prisoners ahead of the peace conference in Annapolis,
Maryland in the United States later this month.
According to a senior official, the defense establishment is also examining
the ramifications of a proposal being drafted to release several hundred
prisoners per month after the Annapolis conference.
There are more than 10,000 Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli jails.
The releases would be dependent on a cessation of terrorism and a commitment by
the freed prisoners not to return to terrorism.
"About 350 prisoners were released in two phases, on 20 July and 1 October,
with a third phase now being contemplated," the Israeli Foreign Ministry
said.