Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has appointed a ministerial committee to see if it possible to downgrade the prison condition of Arab terrorists to those of Gilad Shalit in captivity. Terror victim expert Meir Indor says Arab terrorists' conditions in Israeli prison are better than those of criminal convicts."

The new committee is to be headed by Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann, and will convene today (Wednesday) for the first time to hear judicial opinions on the matter. A new government is expected to take office in the coming days, and it is not clear whether the committee will formulate recommendations, and if so, whether the new government will adopt them.

Issues that will be considered include rights to receive visitors, phone calls and study courses, none of which Shalit has received in his 33 months in Hamas captivity.