Marwan Barghouti’s fate may rest in Trump’s hands

Amid his claims of bringing peace to the Middle East, the US president told Time magazine that he had ­discussed Barghouti’s release with White House aides. “I was literally being confronted with that question about 15 minutes before you called,” he said. “So I’ll be making a decision.”

Whether it is Trump’s decision is another matter: the Israeli authorities regard Barghouti as a terrorist and imprisoned him in 2004 on five life terms, charging him with connections to attacks that killed five people. Many Palestinians consider him a unifying figure with the power to bring together Hamas and Barghouti’s Fatah party as well as a population that long ago grew disillusioned with politicians whose promises of progress have come to little.

After months of requests by Hamas, Barghouti was briefly added to the list of Palestinian prisoners to be freed in a recent exchange of Israeli hostages held in Gaza – before his name was later removed.

Yet even the man who arrested Barghouti said the time has come to free him. Former Shin Bet agent Gonen Ben Itzhak told The Observer during a recent interview in Tel Aviv that the Israeli authorities had no justification other than political interference for keeping Barghouti imprisoned. Others once accused of worse crimes had been freed in the recent exchanges, he pointed out.

“Let’s not be hypocrites here: criminals should pay,” he said. “Some don’t believe that Barghouti killed five Israelis – but we have released people who did far worse. If they don’t release him, they need to at least give a good reason why they won’t.”

Photograph by Brennan Linsley/AP