World Jewish Congress president pushed Israel to release arch terrorist – report

Prominent American Jewish leader reportedly pressed Israel to release arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti, who has topped polls as an alternative to Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas.

By World Israel News Staff

A prominent American Jewish leader pressed Israel to agree to release a Palestinian terrorist mastermind as part of President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace deal, three sources have claimed.

According to a report published by The Times of Israel on Sunday, World Jewish Congress President Ron Lauder urged Jerusalem to consider including Marwan Barghouti, a terrorist from the Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah party, in the list of 250 high-profile terrorists to be released in exchange for the return of 20 Israeli captives and the remains of 28 others.

Barghouti, 66, a longtime Palestine Liberation Organization terrorist and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, was charged in 2002 with 26 counts of murder and multiple counts of attempted murder for his role in orchestrating dozens of attacks on Israelis.

Arrested at the height of the Second Intifada, Barghouti was accused of directing attacks by Fatah’s Tanzim and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

While an Israeli court found that prosecutors did not have sufficient evidence to convict Barghouti in some of the attacks he allegedly planned, in 2004 he was found guilty of five counts of murder, including the killing of a Greek Orthodox Christian monk in 2001, the murder of an Israeli Jew outside of Jerusalem in 2002, and a 2002 Tel Aviv attack that left three people dead.

Over the past 20 years, Barghouti has gained a strong following among Palestinians seeking to replace Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Barghouti has denied involvement in the attacks he was convicted of, yet has also publicly backed “armed resistance” – a euphemism for anti-Israeli terror attacks – and has refused to condemn the murder of Israeli civilians in Judea, Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem.

Lauder, the 81-year-old heir to the Estée Lauder fortune and president of the World Jewish Congress, reportedly lobbied Israel to release Barghouti as part of the Gaza peace deal.

To promote Barghouti’s release, Lauder proposed joining talks in Sharm el-Sheikh last week.

However, Israel vetoed Lauder’s inclusion in the negotiations.

Lauder has also floated the idea of Israel releasing the convicted terrorist as a goodwill gesture to Saudi Arabia, according to an Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have adamantly opposed Barghouti’s release, rejecting demands by Hamas that he be included in the list of terrorists freed as part of the peace deal.