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Abducted IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser (left) and Eldad Regev. (Archive)
Last update - 13:19 17/06/2008
Israeli sources: Deal with Hezbollah likely next week
By Amos Harel , Haaretz Staff and Agencies
Tags: Hezbollah, Israel 

An exchange of prisoners with Hezbollah is expected to take place in the near future, possibly even by late next week, Israeli security sources confirmed on Monday.

Lebanese media referred to a number of possible dates for an exchange Monday, with Friday June 20 as the earliest, and Wednesday June 25 being the latest.

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senior political source told Haaretz on Monday that Israel is still waiting for a final response from Hezbollah and "nothing is final yet."

Zvi Regev, father of reservist Eldad Regev, abducted by Hezbollah on July 12, 2006 along with Ehud Goldwasser, said Monday the family had recently been briefed about an exchange deal that was described as in advanced stages.

In an interview to Israel Radio, Regev said Ofer Dekel, who has been charged by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert with managing the deal over the prisoners, "told us in general terms there will be a deal. That there is a deal, that's it."

Regev argued he does not know what the medical condition of the two reservists is.

"No one actually knows ... we are aware what the worst case scenario can be, but we are still hopeful for good news," he added.

Miki Goldwasser, mother of Ehud, told Haaretz Monday the family has no official information about the deal or about when it might take place.

"We met Ofer Dekel a week ago and he said there is dialogue but he did not tell us that the deal is done," she said.

In spite of reports the two soldiers are dead, Miki Goldwasser said "we assume the boys were taken while still alive."

Dekel is due back in Israel Thursday, presumably from Germany where Berlin has been mediating a deal with Hezbollah, and will update the prime minister on developments.

Meanwhile, the family of missing air force navigator Ron Arad, announced last night it would not participate in a meeting with the prime minister scheduled to take place Tuesday.

Olmert initiated the meeting to inform them he had decided to include Samir Kuntar, a Lebanese man responsible for a murderous attack against a family in Nahariya. Kuntar has remained in Israeli prison, in part as a result of pressure by the Arad family, because he is considered to be the "final" bargaining chip for information on the fate of Ron Arad, who was captured after ejecting from his aircraft over Lebanon in 1986.

Sources in the Prime Minister's Bureau said Monday night the meeting was not cancelled and had been postponed.

However, Elad Shraga, the head of the organization Born Free, which has been working to locate and free Arad, said Monday night that in closed meetings the Arad family attacked Olmert for intending to release Kuntar without receiving information on the missing navigator.

In 2004, as part of the deal for the release of Elhanan Tannenbaum, Kuntar was to be released at a later stage in exchange for Hezbollah information on the fate of Ron Arad. At the time, Israel refused to release Kuntar, arguing that the information Hezbollah provided on Arad was inconclusive.

Exchange on German soil
In addition to Kuntar, the deal for the release of the two abducted soldiers includes four Hezbollah men captured during the Second Lebanon War in 2006. No Palestinian prisoners will be released in the deal.

It is expected that the exchange will take place on German soil, in part because Israel is concerned that a transfer through the border crossing in Rosh Hanikra would allow Hezbollah to hold victory celebrations in southern Lebanon.

The deal is still pending cabinet approval and there is no definitive date set for deliberations on the matter. The prime minister may only seek approval from his cabinet via telephone.

Barak: We'll do what it takes
Some ministers told Haaretz recently they would not oppose the deal, if its parameters were restricted to what has been known in public - which includes a total of six Lebanese prisoners.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Monday that "Israel has done and will continue to do all in its power, including underhanded ways to bring back its prisoners. This is true for Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev and also Gilad Shalit," he said referring to the IDF soldier held by Hamas.

Earlier this month, Israel released Nissam Nasar convicted of espionage after he served a prison term.

The relatively low number of prisoners who are being freed in the deal (compared to previous exchanges) stems from the fact that Israel made it clear to Hezbollah, through the German mediator, that it assumes the two soldiers are dead.

Israel also warned Hezbollah that unless the group agreed to the terms, it would declare the two soldiers dead, narrowing the radical Shi'ite group's bargaining power further.

Built into the warning was the likelihood that in such an eventuality, Israel would only agree to trade in dead Hezbollah fighters, not living prisoners.

Barak Ravid, Yuval Azoulay, Yoav Stern and Jack Khoury contributed to this article.



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      1.   Prisoner Swap 04:16  |  Daniel 17/06/08
      2.   WHAT IS ISRAEL GOING TO GET FOR PRISONER SWAP?POT LUCK AND ...... 04:54  |  glenna 17/06/08
      3.   Daniel 1 - Not knowing if alive or not 05:01  |  Free Gilad Shalit 17/06/08
      4.   So what gives? 05:13  |  Ron 17/06/08
      5.   It`s a terrible idea 05:18  |  Ethan 17/06/08
      6.   Hezbollah Will Hold Victory Celebrations Anyway 05:27  |  Jeff Northridge 17/06/08
      7.   Samirele did some killing (S; yesterday) 05:34  |  Tosefta 17/06/08
      8.   #7-arabist apologistele does some pleading 06:08  |  peter 17/06/08
      9.   Don`t know if dead or alive? 07:01  |  Alan 17/06/08
      10.   I know which leaders we have and it`s a long stretch... 07:51  |  Dan 17/06/08
      11.   DO THE SWAP IMMEDIATELY, THESE KIDS STILL ALIVE 07:53  |  indrajaya 17/06/08
      12.   So where does that leave Ron Arad if Ollie surrenders Kuntar 08:25  |  Claude 17/06/08
      13.   warning 08:25  |  Ordallie Nutcase 17/06/08
      14.   Do nt forget Baumel Katz and Feldman, they are also MIA s !!! 08:48  |  Vogel 17/06/08
      15.   #7 Tossi on Samirele 09:02  |  EZ 17/06/08
      16.   On "trades" 09:05  |  EZ 17/06/08
      17.   Get ready Iran 09:57  |  Josh 17/06/08
      18.   Dan 10:09  |  A.M. 17/06/08
      19.   The contradictions of Israel - can this be true? 10:09  |  Maureen Ann 17/06/08
      20.   Claude 10:24  |  A.M. 17/06/08
      21.   Tosefta totally lacking moral judgemen 10:38  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 17/06/08
      22.   Maureen Ann - your incomplete incompetant research 10:45  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 17/06/08
      23.   #7, Tosefta`s understanding of deterrence 10:51  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 17/06/08
      24.   #6, Jeff Northridge 10:54  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 17/06/08
      25.   #22 Margie in Tel Aviv. I agree... 11:22  |  Maureen Ann 17/06/08
      26.   "AM" # 20 armchair napoleon ? 11:22  |  Claude 17/06/08
      27.   JEFF Baby killer comes home! Indeed cause to celebrate 11:47  |  PETER SM 17/06/08
      28.   #22 Margie in Tel Aviv. You seem to have made a mistake. 12:08  |  Maureen Ann 17/06/08
      29.   Maureen Ann #19 12:20  |  Free Gilad Shalit 17/06/08
      30.   No Kuntar release unless Israelis are alive 12:25  |  Joe Sittizen 17/06/08
      31.   It was an atrocious, bestial act 12:42  |  sh 17/06/08
      32.   Deal with Hezbollah likely next week ,,,,???? Hows that ? 12:45  |  terry 17/06/08
      33.   INDRAJAYA."THESE KIDS STILL ALIVE" how do YOU know? 12:52  |  PETER SM 17/06/08
      34.   150 israeli soldiers 1500 lebanese civilians 20:17  |  ClearCut 17/06/08
      35.   I am not sure why my clone says they are alive #39 20:04  |  indrajaya 17/06/08
      36.   What a bunch of slooow thinkers (Peter, Margie, J Murphy, Cipora) 19:43  |  Tosefta (re EZ) 17/06/08
      37.   INDRAJAYA ALERT = FAKE 11 19:16  |  indrajaya 17/06/08
      38.   #39: DEAD OR ALIVE, 18:37  |  lantablues 17/06/08
      39.   The two Terrorist in the pictures at the top of the page 17:54  |  POP 17/06/08
      40.   Not beneficial 16:44  |  utagawa 17/06/08
      41.   # 36, PETER SM 16:38  |  indrajaya 17/06/08
      42.   No release for Mad-dog Kuntar 16:31  |  utagawa 17/06/08
      43.   #44, Tosefta, "thinking is like loving and dying" 07:40  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 18/06/08
      44.   #PeterSM and Free Gilad Shalit. When is enough, enough for you? 04:44  |  Maureen Ann 18/06/08
      45.   Wisdom for apologists and Cipora J. Kohn #45 02:41  |  Mars H. Mallow 18/06/08
      46.   Precedents (Jasmine Murphy #50) 02:33  |  Tosefta 18/06/08
      47.   # 63 jeff 02:02  |  Axel 18/06/08
      48.   #7 - Tosefta, I think you`re wrong here 23:46  |  JES 17/06/08
      49.   Clearcut - 150 +1500 were killed for.... 22:17  |  Joe Sittizen 17/06/08
      50.   #36, Tosefta, confused as usual 22:03  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 17/06/08
      51.   #54, Lynn 21:37  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 17/06/08
      52.   Jeff Northridge......Pleeez. 21:33  |  BamBoo 17/06/08
      53.   Regev & Goldwasser are long since dead 20:58  |  Adrian de Klerk 17/06/08
      54.   Free Gilad Shalit. Its one of those terrible choices 16:16  |  PETER SM 17/06/08
      55.   # 33, PETER SM 13:12  |  indrajaya 17/06/08
      56.   INDRAJAYA You have explained nothing,You are lying! PROOF? 13:45  |  PETER SM 17/06/08
      57.   Peter SM #33 13:57  |  Free Gilad Shalit 17/06/08
      58.   Indrajaya "These kids still alive" 14:04  |  Free Gilad Shalit 17/06/08
      59.   # 6 jeff 14:12  |  Axel 17/06/08
      60.   FREE GIlad Shalit.I THINK they want closure whatever their fate 14:36  |  PETER SM 17/06/08
      61.   Will `smart` Olmert exchange the live for the dead? 14:40  |  Mike 17/06/08
      62.   If Kuntara goes free Olmert must also go 15:00  |  CM 17/06/08
      63.   The establishment of precedents 15:04  |  Jasmine Murphy 17/06/08
      64.   #6 Jeff Northridge....better hope it moves quickly 15:19  |  Lynn 17/06/08
      65.   Jasmine Murphy....the trade doesn`t set a precedent 15:29  |  Lynn 17/06/08
      66.   Peter SM # 39 15:30  |  Free Gilad Shalit 17/06/08
      67.   A.M., ok, when 600 missle fall on T.A. we will stop 15:42  |  Dan 17/06/08
      68.   Axel # 38 You Exaggerate