'Israel willing to pay heavy price to free Gilad Shalit - but not any price'
PM addresses mounting pressure to implement prisoner swap, says he has agreed to free 1,000 Palestinian prisoners; Hamas: Main issue is not how many prisoners, but which ones.
By Haaretz Service and Reuters Tags: Israel news Gilad Shalit Benjamin NetanyahuPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday made a special address on the negotiations to free abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, and said Israel is willing to pay a heavy price in the negotiations with Hamas, but not any price.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement on Israel's raid on a Gaza aid convoy in Jerusalem on June 2, 2010. |
| Photo by: Reuters |
In a live address to the country, Netanyahu said all Israelis wanted Shalit back safely but past experience showed that many Palestinians released had returned to carry out attacks on Israelis.
Netanyahu said he empathizes with the Shalit family, but "I see, as does every Israeli prime minister, the security of all of the state's citizens. Israel is willing to pay a heavy price for the release of Shalit, but not 'at any price.' This is the truth, and I am saying it now," said Netanyahu, adding that Israel will continue to make every effort to bring Gilad home while maintaining the security of Israel's citizens.
Netanyahu's address comes five days after the family and supporters of Shalit began a protest march from the Shalit's Galilee home to the prime minister's official residence in Jerusalem.
Gilad Shalit was abducted by Gaza militants in a 2006 cross-border raid and has been held in captivity for four years.
In his address to respond to the mounting pressure to implement the prisoner swap, Netanyahu said the decision to free terrorists "is a difficult decision for any government," and went on to describe how prisoners freed in previous swaps committed other acts of terrorism after their release from Israeli prisons.
Netanyahu specifically mentioned the 1985 Jibril swap, in which more than 1,000 prisoners were freed, and the 2004 deal to free Israeli businessman Elhanan Tannenbaum, in which 400 prisoners were released. Netanyahu said that prisoners freed in the Tannenbaum case were responsible for killing 27 Israelis.
Despie this, Netanyahu said he had agreed to the latest offer from Hamas.
"The German mediator's offer, which we agreed to accept, called for the release of 1,000 terrorists. This is the price I am prepared to pay to bring Gilad home. I said yes to the deal and it is ready for immediate implementation," Netanyahu said.
He was referring to a moment last December when a deal and a prisoner exchange appeared imminent but in the end never came about. Media reports at the time spoke of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit, although there was never official confirmation from the Israeli side.
"But there are prices that I am not prepared to pay and they are not included in this difficult deal," Netanyahu said.
"I am steadfast on two basic principles: The first principle is that dangerous terrorists will not return to the areas of Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] from where they can continue to harm Israel's citizens."
Netanyahu said the freed prisoners could go to Tunisia or the Gaza Strip or any other place, but not to the West Bank because this would afford them access to Israeli cities.
The second sticking point Netanyahu mentioned was "arch-terrorists." They would not be freed as part of the deal, he added.
Hamas said in response the problem was more about who was due for release and not how many prisoners.
"Netanyahu is trying to delude Israeli public opinion and deceive the people. It is not a matter of numbers. It is a question of who will be released," said Ayman Taha, a senior Hamas spokesman.
Hamas insists that out of the 1,000, Israel must release 450 prisoners jailed for violent attacks on Israelis, Taha said. But in past negotiations Israel had rejected most of those named by Hamas in that category.
Officials behind the public campaign for Shalit's release believe that the march will present Netanyahu with the political capital necessary to proceed with the prisoner swap negotiations.
Some 1,500 supporters joined the march on Thursday, which was to reach Hadera by the evening. The numbers of marchers have varied since the protest began on Sunday, but no fewer than 1,000 have joined the Shalit family on its quest to persuade Netanyahu to carry out the prisoner swap.
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Good for you Bibi. Don't give in to blackmail.
this government has to resign. it is the most corrupt government the state has known. bibi said nothing new. the price must be paid to get gilad home. the shalit family are the beautiful israelis that i used to know.
It smells like Bibi's walk on eggshells tries to hide the simple fact that he does not want to free Marwan Barghouti. If freed the latter would become the natural successor of Mahmoud Abbas. He might also succeed in reconciliation with Hamas and confront the Israeli government with peace propasals that would even impress the U.S. Such a move would put Bibi under pressure to end his double game of growing settlements and hidden ethnic cleansing on the one hand and faked readiness for peace talks on the other. The plot reminds me of some comedies; unfortunately real life is more like a tragicomedy. Btw: I understand the arguments of some talkbackers who challenge the whole system of taking hostages on either side in the 21st century. Yet in the current situation it seems better to free 1,001 poor prisoners than to let them rot in chains.
You would let murderers loose into your home county? The rest of your post is full of imaginary scenarios where Barghouti will do amazing things. And that's a reason to release a murderer?
I believe that the return of Gilad is important because it would show the ability of Hamas to negotiate a socially appropriate way of proving intent to comply and set something right among their Israeli neighbors. But that is exactly why they will not comply (because keeping Gilad means that they have a golden token to barter with at any point in time. This bartering chip is easy to manipulate an immovable potitical rift.
As a father of two sons, my heart goes out to Noam. If I were Noam Shalit, I would be the one at the fence with my rifle shooting at the rocket launchers and praying, "God, let this be the one!" until the IDF came and took me away in chains and confiscated my rifle. Lord God have mercy on him and ease his anguish. Since this is the result of military action, the IDF should take Gilad back and return him to his parents. The Law requires the death penalty for kidnappers of an Israelite. As unpleasant as this will be, it cannot be postponed any longer. Go Get Gilad!
There wasn'rever a march against freeing terrorists in an exchange, but the numbers would be very high against it isfa survey were taken.
But 1000s of Palestinians were klled or wounded, and even the IDF lost troops and Israelis died as well. It's time for Bibi to take the brokered deal to release Shalit, then get serious about discussing a comprehensive peace agreement with its neighbors, including Hamas at the table.
It's important to note that actually, Israel isn't being asked to pay one red cent. They're being asked to release prisoners. Technically, these have no monetary value.
Doing deals like this simply puts a price on every IDF soldiers head by making them a potentially attractive kidnapping prospect. The appeal to release him should simply be on the basis of humanity and justice. Israel should likewise release those not charged / convicted.
I don't understand what the big deal is,and why this is such a matter of such concern.
And just what, Mr Prophet888, would you consider a big enough deal to be such a matter of concern? Perhaps you sitting imprisoned for four years, denied all contact with your family and international aid organizations.
Has ever more hue and cry been made over one captured soldier than this guy. Thousands of Palestinians unjustly in jail, but one (Jewish) soldier, taken while enforcing a brutal, illegal occupation ... and it's "free Shalit" "free Shalit"! More Americans are probably more familiar with his name at this point than they are with Rachel Corrie's. (Big surprise, I know.)
If they hadn't been dangerous Israel wouldn't have to discuss about their release don't you think? Or are you another one of those leftists who have never been to Israel once and think they know how things work over there. I will just let you surfing youtube just to check videos about terrorist attacks in israel during the 90s. But probably you don't even remember what used to happen back then on buses and public places when one of your "unjustly in jail" terrorist was probably trying to blow himself up in some restaurant in tel aviv...I wish you to go and live in the gaza strip among those people you really want set free and see how brutal life can be living under hamas rule.
The Jewish tradition (and law) is to pay a great deal for "redemption of captives", but not an unlimited amount. The case of Rabbi Meir of Ruthenburg (13th cent.) is well known; he forbade the payment of an exorbitant amount for his own release and died in captivity after seven years. Netanyahu agreed to the release of even murderous prisoners, but only if the 45 most dangerous (out of 450) will go into exile abroad or to Gaza, instead of being released to their homes in the West Bank. This strikes me as a fair position. The rest is up to Hamas. Note that pressuring Hamas about Shalit's release by imprisoning 1.5 million civilians in Gaza did not work, is immoral as a collective punishment, and according to some legal experts constitutes a crime against humanity. It is time for the Shalit family to turn to pressuring Hamas by trying to shame them in the Arab world as prolonging the imprisonment of their jailed colleagues. Let Noam Shalit give some interviews to this effect to the Arab press and al-Jazeera. This might even work.
The Law requires that the kidnappers of an Israelite be put to death whether the Israelite is injured or not. No swaps, no ransom, go get Gilad.
No visits to give his position away. He is so high profile I'm sure very few people in Hamas know.
If Bibi were serious about gaining the release of Shalit, he would pay the necessary price and get on with it. Does he really think releasing prisoners with "blood on their hands" will increase terrorism? I doubt it. The Palestinians can always find willing terrorists if they want. We have ensured, through the occupation, that there are a ready supply of them. So, let Bibi stop the B/S and gain Shalit's release. Or...just shut up!!
Why should the "necessary price," include releasing murderers, with blood on their hands, into the areas from which they perpetrated their atrocities in the first place? Before this, "occupation" excuse, why was there a ready supply of terrorists going back to 1920? That's 47 years of terrorism against Jews before, "occupation" became the latest excuse.
..."no real need to start paying attention, son, until you hear the word 'but.' " (And while he was somewhat coy concerning political pronouncements, I always got the impression that he felt they left out WAY lot more than they put in.)
So this is the 'leadership' that Israel wants. Hamas holds the ace and your politicians fail to see the obvious. Time is not something for governments to squander when faced by those committed to an outcome. Gaza's only lasted 5000 years what's another 4 or 40.
I live in Canada so it is easy for me to agree with a 1000 to 1 prisoner exchange. Again this will set a precedent on all future exchanges if the deal goes through. In reference to Bibi wanting assurances that these prisoners will not go back to terrorist activities...he must be a fool to think he can be assured of anything. Do the deal. Get back Shalit and learn from this lesson.
Just what do you think Netanyahu should learn from this? What all Israelis have learned from similar experiences in the past is that every time a swap of many Palestinian prisoners for one or two or three Israelis, we are lucky to get those Israelis back alive, and more Israelis will be captured and the price will be raised, perhaps geometrically.
what would guarantee that the prisoners released in a prisoner swap would not resort to violent resistance, especially when the majority of Palestinians, including PA President Abbas deplores any continuation of violence and yearn to reach a peace deal with Israel? The whole concern for everyone in the region is the security and acceptance that all people deserve to live in peace and dignity in their sovereign states.
Why is Shalit's life more important than any other Israeli? Any Arab terrorist that is released for Shalit will kill again. That is a certainty. It is unfortunate the Shalit got kidnapped, but that is the price of war.
You might be right that Israel is holding potential terrorists in its prisons, but and according to the UN, thousands of Palestinians are wrongfully detained without trial.including women and children. LET THESE PEOPLE GO
If the U.N. wants them, let the U.N. come and get them.
During a war, do captured combatants get trials? I don't think so!
Can this government move forward without being put under severe pressure? The German brokered deal was on the table when the Israeli government walked away from it. Now, with massive free-Shalit protests underway, and after he did a U-turn on why the Gaza blockade was maintained in the first place, Netanyahu blames Hamas for not making the deal. Nauseating
Netanyahu made it clear what his position is. Hamas has made its position clear. Why you blame only Netanyahu and not Hamas for inflexibility shows where you are coming from
stupid answer!! it is in Israel's hand to bring Gilad back. Israel = Bibi and his government. and if You ask me, give em all to get Gilad back. shame on You.
You mean it's not in Hamas' hands as well? Shalit is in Hamas' hands in the first place. They can let him go whenever they choose. Caving into releasing mass murderers is not reasonable.