Israeli Press Criticizes Government's Plan To Release 104 Palestinian Prisoners

Move announced ahead of peace talks

AS Israeli and Palestinian negotiators head to Washington for the resumption of peace talks, most Israeli newspapers hit out at the decision to free 104 prisoners in return.

"The murderers will go free," was the top-selling daily Yediot Aharonot's front-page headline after the cabinet agreed to release the veteran Palestinian and Israeli Arab prisoners, many of them convicted militants.

In a tense session lasting more than five hours, ministers on Sunday endorsed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposal to release the 104 prisoners imprisoned before the 1993 Oslo peace accords as a gesture to the Palestinians.