JERUSALEM — Plans for Israel’s 50th anniversary celebrations hit another snag this week.
Yitzhak Moda’i, chairman of the committee for the jubilee celebrations, sparked a debate by suggesting that President Ezer Weizman, in consultation with the Justice Minister Tzachi Hanegbi, should consider a general amnesty in conjunction with the jubilee.
Moda’i tried to soften some of the criticisms directed at him by saying that he did not support a sweeping amnesty for all prisoners.
He proposed, instead, the establishment of an apolitical committee, comprised of public figures, to consult with the president on the pardons.
Meanwhile, in the Knesset, a separate amnesty initiative was under way, with attorney Menachem Shizaf lobbying legislators to pass an amnesty bill.
The initiative drew suggestions that Shizaf was involved in trying to pardon Shas Knesset member Aryeh Deri, on trial for fraud and corruption.
Shizaf categorically denied this, adding that the amnesty would apply only to “criminals convicted of lighter offenses, such as theft or fraud.
“There is no plan to release murderers, rapists or hardened criminals,” he said.
For his part, Deri sent a letter to Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein this week in which he said he had no part in the initiative.
Deri added that if a general amnesty was granted as part of the celebrations marking the founding of the Jewish state, he would not want it to apply to him.
Labor Party Knesset member Ophir Pines has introduced a bill that would prevent the president from giving any pardons for the 50th anniversary.
The last time a general amnesty was implemented was following the 1967 Six-Day War, with the release of 501 prisoners, about one-third of the prison population at the time.
The amnesty debate is just one of several problems that have plagued preparations for Israel’s 50th anniversary.
Of the original seven-member planning committee, only four remain, and the number of events has been scaled down in the face of budgetary concerns. The government has budgeted some $33 million for the anniversary events.