The Knesset, Israel’s 120-member legislative body, voted 35-15 on Monday in favor of the new law which forbids releasing Palestinian prisoners convicted of murder in future political deals or prisoner swaps, a cabinet member told AFP. The practice has been employed to promote peace efforts. Current prisoners, however, are excluded from the act. It also contains a loophole enabling Israeli presidents to pardon future inmates of their own volition , according to Reuters. The new law empowers judges to convict people for murder under “extraordinarily severe circumstances,” a special designation which would prevent the government from freeing prisoners during...
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