Tel Aviv / PNN /
Israeli President Isaac Herzog is considering exercising his clemency powers to shorten the prison term of Ami Popper, the extremist convicted of killing seven Palestinian workers in the 1990 “Ayun Qara massacre,” if a prisoner exchange deal is reached with Hamas, according to a report published Sunday by Yedioth Ahronoth.
The paper said Herzog has yet to make a final decision, but the pardons department in the President’s Office and the Justice Ministry have in recent months reviewed petitions filed by Jewish prisoners convicted of terrorist attacks against Palestinians. The report noted that those prisoners have demanded reduced sentences on the grounds of what they called “parity” with past releases or commuted sentences granted to Palestinian prisoners in previous exchange deals. Most of those requests were denied, but the option of cutting Popper’s term – without granting him immediate release – is now under serious consideration.
Popper’s sentence is due to end in 2030 if unchanged. He was initially handed seven life terms after stealing his soldier brother’s rifle and opening fire on Palestinian laborers waiting at the Gan HaVradim junction in Rishon Lezion. In 1999, then-President Ezer Weizman, acting on the recommendation of Justice Minister Tzachi Hanegbi, reduced the sentences of seven Jewish extremists, including Popper, commuting his punishment to 40 years. The decision was framed as “balancing” the widespread releases of Palestinian detainees. Since then, that precedent has become a rallying point for right-wing advocacy groups such as Honenu, which represents Jewish extremists and lobbies ministers, lawmakers and rabbis to secure further concessions for Popper.
Yedioth Ahronoth added that a parole board last November rejected Popper’s request for early release, following strong objections from the State Prosecutor’s Office and the Shin Bet security agency, which warned that any further leniency could encourage “copycat attacks” among other extremists. Popper’s defense team, however, cited what they described as his “integration into society,” noting that he leaves prison daily for work and returns in the evening. They also repeated his claim that he committed the massacre after being sexually assaulted by a Palestinian worker.
Responding to the report, the President’s Office said it had received a request to reduce the sentence based on the precedent set by President Weizman in relation to prisoner exchange deals. “No decision has been made yet, and the matter will only be considered if such a deal is reached to bring back the captives, which is undoubtedly an important objective. Any decision will be taken only after reviewing the reports of the competent authorities in accordance with the law,” it added.
On May 20, 1990, Popper opened fire with a military rifle on Palestinian workers from Gaza who were waiting at a pickup point near Rishon Lezion, killing seven and wounding ten others. The massacre triggered widespread protests in Gaza that left 19 Palestinians dead in a week of clashes, remembered as “Black Sunday” in Palestinian collective memory. Popper’s attack itself became known as the “Ayun Qara massacre.
