Yariv Levin (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

The ministerial committee on legislation is to vote Sunday on a bill that would take away benefits from terrorists with Israeli citizenship who leave prison early.

The legislation, sponsored by coalition chairman Yariv Levin (Likud), is timely because Israeli- Arabs are expected to be included at the end of next month in final round of prisoners being released by Israel to the Palestinian Authority as a gesture in the diplomatic process.

The benefits removed would include unemployment payments and other stipends from the National Insurance Institute.

“We should not tolerate the absurd situation in which terrorists who are released before their sentence is completed receive benefits from the state,” Levin said. “This includes terrorists set free in deals and diplomatic agreements.”

The Almagor organization, which represents terror victims and their families, is to meet with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in an attempt to persuade him to refuse to release terrorists who are Israeli citizens. The organization also wrote US Secretary of State John Kerry.

In an attempt to reach out to Israelis, Kerry’s Jewish brother Cameron penned a column that was translated into Hebrew and printed in Yediot Aharonot on Friday in which he explained the secretary of state’s commitment to Israel’s security.

Cameron Kerry recalled his brother’s first trip to Israel 30 years ago along with Jewish leaders from Boston. He remembered his brother’s amazement at how small the country is.

“His determination to reach peace in the Middle East was impacted by his deep understanding of the need to guarantee the security of Israel as the home of the Jewish people,” Kerry wrote. “That was what led him to understand that Israel’s long-term security requires a two-state solution.

Due to security, demographic and geographic realities, Israel cannot continue the occupation of the West Bank and remain both Jewish and Democratic.”

US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro and US Secretary of State John Kerry. Photo: Reuters)

In an apparent attempt to reach out to Israelis who are opposed to the US-brokered talks between Israel and the Palestinians, US Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to meet with victims of Arab terrorism from the Almagor organization on one of his upcoming trips to Israel.

According to Almagor head Meir Indor, US officials this week promised the meeting would take place. Indor said he wanted Kerry to see the victims of terrorism and their families so he would understand their plight.

US officials have also been meeting with right-wing MKs and leaders of organizations over the past two weeks. For instance, US Ambassador Dan Shapiro has met family members of terrorism victims from Almagor and with coalition chairman MK Yariv Levin (Likud).

At Shapiro’s request, he will meet in two weeks with the Knesset’s Land of Israel Caucus, which is headed by Levin and Bayit Yehudi MK Orit Struck. Struck was the first MK to heckle European Parliament President Martin Schultz during his address to the Knesset on Wednesday.

Bayit Yehudi chairman Naftali Bennett defended his faction on Thursday for walking out of the speech, saying that now world leaders would be more careful with what they say in Israel. But Labor faction chairman Eitan Cabel warned that world leaders would stop coming to the Knesset due to the way Bennett’s MKs treated Schulz.

During his speech, Schulz criticized the blockade of the Gaza Strip and Jewish settlements in the West Bank. His remarks regarding the consumption of water allowed to Palestinians was what set off the angry responses by some Knesset members.

Schulz defended his speech in interviews with the German media on Thursday.

“At the Knesset I was required to explain the stance of the European Parliament,” he told De Welt. “Obviously I can’t just say things that please everybody. I’m also obliged to express contested matters. I was surprised and affected by the harsh reaction I received after giving a pro-Israel speech. The people who interfered with my speech belong to the hard-liners who criticize and respond in this fashion to every critical word that bothers them.”