Marwan Barghouti's op-ed in The New York Times reminds me of something that happened many years ago in the West Bank, when the PLO was still considered a terrorist organization. A young Palestinian, brought before a military court under the charge of publicly calling the PLO "the sole representative of the Palestinian people," was surprisingly acquitted by the judges. His attorneys presented the court with a newspaper clipping in which MK Yossi Sarid made the same claim. In that spirit, anyone who objects to the phenomenon known as Marwan Barghouti should not direct their protests at The New York Times but rather at the very heart of the Israeli establishment. Barghouti published his article in the widely circulated newspaper as a challenge to the Palestinian Authority, which does not support the current Palestinian prisoners' hunger strike, and as a wink to the Islamist groups (Hamas and Islamic Jihad) who do support it. The primary reason for the article was the appointment Wednesday of senior Fatah official Mahmoud al-Aloul as the first ever vice president of the ruling Fatah party -- one level above Barghouti in the Fatah Central Committee -- marking him as a possible candidate to succeed Mahmoud Abbas as Palestinian Authority president. Barghouti, who viewed the appointment as a plot to oust him, decided to act against the leaders of the Palestinian Authority. Barghouti is a terrorist murderer who has already been in prison for 15 years and is looking at five life sentences plus another 40 years. As someone whose future is unclear, he occasionally explores ways of getting himself out of prison. Around a decade ago, this man who had sabotaged the Oslo Accords and called on Palestinians to shoot IDF soldiers and settlers, and later on civilians, too, invited high-ranking Israeli officials to his prison cell to speak to them in a Nelson Mandela style. He boasted about the doctorate degree he had acquired while behind bars, sold himself as a moderate "interested in the common future of both peoples," and to several gullible Israeli politicians he suggested that releasing him from jail would give them a charismatic Palestinian leader, broadly accepted, including in Gaza, who would courageously rule his people. This delirious idea was enchanting to some Israelis. A former deputy head of the Shin Bet security agency, the late MK Gideon Ezra (Kadima), urged releasing Barghouti from prison, arguing at the time that he was "tomorrow's leader of the Palestinians." Amid the dilemma of whether to keep a murderous terrorist behind bars for life or possibly gain an authentic Palestinian leader amenable to Israel, Ezra believed there was no question he should be freed and crowned Palestinian leader. Tzipi Livni, when she was justice minister, "randomly" met with Barghouti in prison to get to know him and examine options for the future. The late former defense minister, MK Benjamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor), also publicly supported Barghouti's immediate release, even declaring he would fight to see it happen. Then-Defense Minister Amir Peretz (Labor) and Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh (Labor) also called for Barghouti's release. A note to all the security experts: Had Barghouti been released, he would have been seen by the Palestinians as an Israeli collaborator until he could prove otherwise. And "otherwise," of course, refers to the policies he would consequently institute, which would leave us yearning for Hamas. Dr. Col. (res.) Moshe Elad is a lecturer on national security issues at Western Galilee College. He is a former military governor of the Jenin and Bethlehem districts, as well as a former head of the Regional Security Committee with the Palestinian Authority.