There was a certain internal political logic to two announcements made by the Israeli government, just days before Wednesday’s scheduled resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians. Early Monday, the government released a list of 26 Palestinian prisoners to be released Tuesday, most serving sentences for murder and other violent crimes. A few hours before that, the government published bids for the construction of more than 1,000 new housing units in East Jerusalem and existing West Bank settlements — a move apparently designed to mollify right-wingers who would oppose the prisoner release.
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