On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert committed to another prisoner release to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The release is timed to coincide with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and is intended to represent Israel’s goodwill.

Less than two months ago, Israel released 250 Palestinian prisoners in an effort to bolster Abbas’s reputation following Hamas’s violent coup in the Gaza Strip. The number of terrorists to be released this round is unknown.

The process of releasing violent prisoners and ceding land to those who lob rockets into Israeli cities such as Sderot appears to many to be failing, and even the Olmert administration admits this so-called peace process has not worked in the past.

However, this prisoner release is drawing significant opposition from some Israeli leaders.

“It’s the Palestinians’ turn to make goodwill gestures,” said Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Noting that Israel has still not received any information about its kidnapped soldiers, an event that triggered last July’s war in Lebanon, Lieberman said it was unmerited that Palestinian family members were able to visit known terrorists in Israeli jails.

Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai has said that his party would also vote against the planned release. Knesset Member Gideon Sa’ar agrees that further prisoner releases are unwarranted, saying, “No other country battling cruel terror against its citizens would be so hasty in releasing terrorists” (ibid.).

While many disapprove of the proposed prisoner release, some think it at least might help prop up Mamhoud Abbas. Abbas’s approval rating has increased from 36 percent in June to 45 percent today, according to the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, which is based in Ramallah. In contrast, popularity of the opposition Hamas has fallen 2 percent since June. However, this is a far cry from progressing toward any peaceful permanent solution.

While the world focuses on the ins and outs of the ongoing Palestinian peace process, many miss the big picture. When one side does not accept the other’s right to exist (and neither Hamas nor Fatah accept Israel’s), co-existence is not possible. Conditions are bound to get worse before they get better. But there is a hope. Peace will come to the Middle East—even to the Palestinians and the nation of Israel. For information on how peace will come, read Jerusalem in Prophecy. Also see “The Only Solution to the Middle East Crisis.”