Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., July 18, 2008 Tamuz 15, 5768 | | Israel Time: 18:02 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Last update - 23:00 16/07/2008 Olmert: We paid a high price for our troops out of moral duty By Barak Ravid and Anshil Pfeffer, Haaretz Correspondents Tags: Peres, Olmert, Samir Kuntar  Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday that Israel's duty to its soldiers led the government to carry out a prisoner exchange earlier in the day, in which Israel released five Lebanese prisoners in exchange for the bodies of two Israel Defense Forces reservists abducted by Hezbollah in 2006. The coffins holding the bodies of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were later >delivered to an army base in northern Israel where their families were waiting. The statement by Olmert acknowledged the apparently skewed exchange, in which Israel freed one of its most notorious prisoners, Samir Kuntar, and four Hebzollah fighters in return for the bodies. Advertisement The sheer power of Israel's moral obligation to its soldiers prompted the exchange, even such at a heavy price, Olmert said. "Today the doubts have been dispelled, especially regarding the fates of Udi [Ehud Goldwasser] and Eldad, but also regarding the power of Israel's moral and ethical obligations." "It is this power that drove our decision to bring the hostages home, even at the heavy price of releasing a heinous murderer." Kuntar has been imprisoned in Israel since 1979. He was convicted of one of the grisliest attacks in Israeli history - killing a man in front of his four-year-old daughter, and then killing the girl herself by crushing her skull. The girl's two-year-old sister was accidentally smothered by her mother, who kept her hand over the toddler's mouth to stifle her cries as they hid from Kuntar and his accomplices. He was also considered Israel's last bargaining chip in efforts to determine the fate of Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad, who disappeared when his plane went down over Lebanon in 1986. Olmert said Wednesday: "A foreigner wouldn't understand what every Israeli knows well - the mutual responsibility and the obligation to ensure the welfare of each and every one of our soldiers. It is the glue that holds our society together and enables us to survive while surrounded by enemies and terror organizations." "I pity the people who are celebrating at this time the release of an animal who crushed the skull of a little girl of four," he concluded. Upon the completion of the prisoner exchange Wednesday evening, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said "on this day let there be no doubt ? just as Israel is willing to pay a price to defend its values, Israel has demanded, and will continue to demand a high price from its enemies in its endeavor to defend itself, if needed." "For us," the foreign minister continued, "the heroes are those who fight to defend civilians, those who fight to preserve our existence, and those who go into battle not only with a weapon, but with the willingness to make sacrifices and the knowledge that they are protecting people who share their values and would also be willing to pay a price to implement those values." Meanwhile Wednesday, President Shimon Peres denounced the red carpet treatment that welcomed the five prisoners that returned to Lebanon on Wednesday, comparing between the behavior of Israelis, who mourned the return of Regev and Goldwasser, and what he called Lebanese "dancing and drumming." "I see and hear what is happening on both sides of the barricade. In Lebanon there are victory celebrations," Peres said in a special address. "The heads of states, heads of Hezbollah are dancing and drumming before welcoming Kuntar - the murderer who with his rifle's butt smashed the skull of Einat, of blessed memory, who was four years old, and who shot her father in cold blood. In Israel, the people are crying. Today we are all the Goldwasser and Regev families." The Lebanese government has declared Wednesday a national holiday to celebrate the "liberation of prisoners from the jails of the Israeli enemy and the return of the remains of martyrs." "We have paid a painful price in order to bring Ehud and Eldad home, to rest the respite of warriors at their homes," Peres said of the swap. "With us, with everyone, with the fallen and the living." "You can see where the pain is, where the happiness is. But if you ask really where is the supreme moral victory, and where is the human defeat - [look] in the reception of a unparalleled, base murderer, and the lighting of memorial candles for the remembrance of our loved ones - the answer is clear," Peres added. Related articles: Peres pardons Kuntar, says 'no forgiveness in my decision' Report: One of IDF soldiers to be swapped was killed in kidnapping Mother of Kuntar victim: How can you pardon him? Bookmark to del.icio.us   Show me the money European Jews would do well to look to U.S. Jews for lessons on renewal. A tale of two mothers Israeli documentary 'To Die in Jerusalem' earns three Emmy nominations.   1.   BULLSHIT its not moral duty its about olmerts lgeacy 23:25  |  zionist forever 16/07/08   2.   high price? 23:33  |  shalit 16/07/08   3.   The Direct Result of The IDF`s Failures 23:35  |  Tod Zuckerman 16/07/08   4.   We mourn; Lebanon celebrates 23:54  |  Paul Sandler 16/07/08   5.   Israels greatest shame. 00:09  |  Mike 17/07/08   6.   Moral too much moral! 00:13  |  hansje 17/07/08   7.   Difference between us and them 00:31  |  Doron 17/07/08   8.   #3, Paul Sandler 01:04  |  Hannah 17/07/08   9.   entire war was a waste of time to get back 2 dead bodies 01:17  |  Pablo B 17/07/08   10.   Messge to #3 Mike 01:31  |  Gershon 17/07/08   11.   At least we did not have to wait 22 years. 02:53  |  Stephen. 17/07/08   12.   Olmert that statement is so far from the truth 03:06  |  Shepherd 17/07/08   13.   #6, Hannah 04:21  |  Paul Sandler 17/07/08   14.   Why do israelis continue to tolerate Olmert??? 05:38  |  Voice of Reason 17/07/08   15.   ISRAEL IS PAING THE HIGHEST PRICE BY MERT BEING IN OFFICE;RUINS 18:13  |  glenna 17/07/08   16.   FOR YOU TO STILL BE IN OFFICE,MERT,THE PEOPLE PAY THE HIGH PRICE! 17:38  |  glenna 18/07/08

Read & React Samir Kuntar: I'm yearning more than ever to confront Israel Responses: 178 Shalit talks hit impasse as Hamas hangs on to 'asset' Responses: 79 Marco Greenberg: The real story of anti-Semitism in the U.S. Responses: 68 Akiva Eldar: Assad was right - now is not the time for talks Responses: 13 David Landau: Olmert has walked right into Nasrallah's trap Responses: 24 Rosner's Domain Is there a crisis in U.S.-Lebanon relations? (WTR) Do U.S. Jews really support 'necessary compromises' for peace? Why does Israel keep agreeing to prisoner swaps? Talansky threatened to use a bomb - a long time ago (WTR) More Headlines 13:44 Six arrested in Israel for allegedly plotting attack on Bush 17:38 VIDEO: Talansky in court; begs to cut short cross-examination 08:36 Shalit talks deadlocked as Hamas hangs on to 'asset' 00:47 Samir Kuntar: I'm yearning more than ever to confront Israel 13:38 Israeli film on mothers of suicide bomber, victim tapped for 3 Emmys 16:50 Teva to buy U.S. drug giant for $7.5B in biggest ever purchase by Israeli company 09:15 This hyphenated life, post two / Jew me down 05:55 ANALYSIS / What does Nasrallah mean by 'defense strategy'? 07:25 Rabbis felt emotional difficulty in identifying remains 13:35 Even the Arab envoys came to bid farewell to Israel's UN ambassador 17:20 Interfaith meet signals thaw in Saudi hostility toward Israel 12:44 Serbia setting up case against alleged Nazi unit member living in U.S. 05:34 Could machinations foil Kadima vote on primary? 11:46 Girl, 16, arrested for pimping out 13-year-old neighbor Previous Editions Select Day 17 jul 16 jul 15 jul 14 jul 13 jul 11 jul 10 jul 09 jul 08 jul 07 jul 06 jul 04 jul

Special Offers Advertisement Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. Israel's Premier Real Estate Website www. israel-property.com Dan Hotels Israel Live the Legend & experience an Unforgettable Summer Vacation Yossi Avrahami Presents: New Luxurious Projects in North Tel Aviv & Eilat Holyland Park Jerusalem Apartment Tower World Class Luxury Your vacation starts here Israel Travel Center Guaranteed Lowest Rates Hebrew Summer courses From $39.95 ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Real Estate in Israel | Travel to Israel with Haaretz | Hotels Israel | Restaurants Israel | Tourist attractions Israel | Shops Israel

birthright Israel | Search engine marketing

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved