Report: Israel will release Barghouti in Shalit deal

no pollard; no deal! netanyahu's shalit and settlement freeze deals can be made more palatable and please everyone a bit by including pollard. why is netanyahu giving something to obama and getting nothing in return. if obama is so interested in peace let him pay the 'huge price'[oy vay] of freeing pollard.pollard helped us destroy the iraqi bomb. we need his spirit to help save us from the iranian bomb. let's not allow netanyahu get away with doing these terrible deals.he must include pollard or no deals at all.[shalit and freeze].

Has the leadership of Israel lost its mind? It's commendable that it has such a great heart as to contemplate a deal of this magnitude, but if someone only has a heart without brains, sooner or later even the heart stops beating. I am appalled that Israel is dealing with Hamas this way. The only language Hamas should hear is that of force. NO DEAL!

What a great and brave man.Alone among wolves!

The Israelis could never kill Barghouti while he was in jail. Now that he will be released, he will be martyred.

Israel should ensure that Barghouti is deported to Timbuktu away from Israel and the region. An unrepentant murderer must not be allowed to continue planning and committing his crimes. And the spooks should take care of business.

The only legitimate reason Hamas got behind the release of Barghouti, aside from the unlikely scenario of Fatah and Hamas working closer than we'd like to think, is so that they can pop him off when he emerges from the prison as the Palestinian Mandela and blame the IDF. This is going to be ugly, fast.

I too feel for Gilad and his family. I also feel for the more than TEN THOUSAND Palestinians held by israel. I hope you care about those to, Keren

Israel should have no problems in releasing Barghouti and all the other Murderers in exchange for Gilad. Like Mandela in ZA they may do good, If however they step out of Line Israel should not capture them or try them in court, but should kill them. as by capturing them, they are giving Hamas an incentive to capture more soldiers

he might turn out to be the next Nelson Mandela and end this stalemate between Israelis and Palestinians.

Barghouti is released. He runs for Palestinian president and wins. Israel will make is life a living hell just like they did to Arafat and like they're doing now to Mashal, Haniya and Abbas, who can't take it anymore and is talking about Barghouti will soon realize his life was much better behind bars.

The attack on the sea food market in Tel Aviv (March/5/02)killed Sgt-Maj. Salim Barchat 33, Yosef Habi 52, Eli Dahan 53. The attach on the gas station near Givat Zeev,Northwest of Jerusalem (Jan 15, 02)killed Yoel Chen. Attack on maaleh Adumm road (june 12.01) killed Greek monk Tsiboukakis Germanus. Barghouti is also accused with 21 more counts of murder in 33 other attacks.

Agree to stop land grabbing and expanding settlements for Shalit.This is the only way Israelis will listen, when somebody else has the upper hand and America has no control. Let this young man go home to his family.

to the cynics - is it possible that Hamas sees in Bargoti a leader it can work with rather than the current Fatah leadership that put all its eggs in the peace negotiation that resulted in 500,000 settlers on Palestinian land and we are no closer to a Palestinian state than we where when it started?

because fox has always been a mouth peace for Israel and it lobies.

Would Yigal Amir be freed if Hamas asked for him? Is he the only red line left in this country?

Barghouti knows that his moment has come. He will emerge as a Mandela. Hopefully, Netanyahu will be self-assured enough to accept Barghouti as a Mandela and conclude a peace agreement. Moishe (Thomas) Goldstein

Finally a smart move.. Barghouti will re-invent himself and Israel will have for the first time a negotiating partner that has support among the entire Palestininan political spectrum. He is radical enough to steal support from Hamas and moderate enough to replace Abbas.. Good luck everyone I hope this is the new beginning!

It is inconcievable that the military option to free Shalit has not been tried in the last three years. In my opinion the military option is the only solution. Should Hamas achieve the release of most of their prisoners in exchange for one Israeli, then Israel is in big trouble.

Yeah yeah yeah--this thing has been happening "next week" for how many years now? Hamas always raises the stakes and it falls apart. Barghouti will stay in the prison cell expostulating on the state of the world as Hamas keeps raising the bar--Shalit for Hamas prisioners, a 50% cut in the gross receipts of Tel Aviv Macabbee, a little sweetener from the diamond trade, and the Hallel Fast Burger concession at Lod International.

Not "necessarily" disproportionate? That's just creepy coming from the country that wiped out a larger proportion of Jews than any other, in but a few years of asymmetrical "conflict". Of course you ignore that all the "Palestinians" held by Israel also call themselves Arabs, and that Arabs have over 99% of the Middle East. Yes, you must ignore that all Israel "occupies" a giant 1/10th of 1% of the Middle East, and you must ignore that all Jews comprise under 1/6th of 1% of world population. You must ignore that asymmetry in order to face yourself in a mirror while trying to fault Jews, from the nation that wiped out a third of them. You know well the "joys of asymmetrical conflict", don't you? Why not visit the WB and see if you can find any trace of occupation apart from security checkpoints, which Jews also must pass and which are also on the other side of the green line? Many wish dearly that what happens in Israel is remotely like what happened in Germany. How wrong u r.

Hamas seems to be interested in getting its own message out. Fox News has more interest in getting out the political message of Rupert Murdoch. When it comes to news about Hamas, or the middle east in general Murdoch has less credibility.

it's amazing how many low life pukes from other countries, like germany's "foreign observer" or mark lincoln from texas, or labrahs come here to a jewish israeli site and have the gaul to support hamas...how can anyone in their right mind support a group like hamas unless of course they really are anti semites? it is actually sometimes very fair and balanced to call someone an anti semite...denying it by whimsically saying it's a term too often overused is just a way for most of the jew haters to deflect and deny...I would rather hear someone say, yes, it's true, I hate jews as opposed to hiding behind free speech and disproporionality, and human rights councils etc...what a farce..what a bunch of little weasels you are...cowards...hypocrites...

I feel so bad about this, I really feel for the family of Gilad Shalit and feel like an ass for saying this, but this deal is suicide. It is well beyond the state's interests to agree with so much for the return of one lovley boy, but a prisoner of war. The world obviously doesn't care what happens to him and I believe that it's Israel's opportunity to take him from his captors. Or at least destroy most of whatever it attacked. Even if it means another invasion of Gaza or Samaria or Judea and even if it means the death of Gilad. Is ghis life worth more to even him to live as a living human hostage? I'm sorry, this isn't appropriate at all. I am sorry Mr. & Mrs. Shalit, but these are the hard facts. One person is not worth 100's of murders and terrorists, that will again show-up on the Israeli rtadar after they next bomb and kill more Israelis. The only thing this trade will do it to keep Hammas, etc. in the very well paid busines of kidnapping more Israelis.

What is the truth of this situation? Is Gilead really alive? Does anyone really trust those who are supposed to have him in captivity since 2006? You know what these are capable of, has there ever been anyone they had kept alive and doing well under there care? The video sent? Was his hair nice and kept clean and short? (does the captors have a barber?) Gilead's cloths are nice and not wrinkled) was he told to put those on again after 3 years?) It would be wonderful if the captors did keep him in healthy or good condition. Look who you are dealing with! This is not right...the whole situation smells bad. I pray that I am wrong. Why haven't the leaders made a better effort over the years? (They know something as well) I am sorry for the parents. For their sake, I hope he is alive, and if not, then may G-d punish those for lying and giving hope when many knew the truth all along.. The emotions of the parents should never be thought of as something simple regarding offspring.

If Hamas can free Barghouti it will prove even to Fatah followers that it can do things that Fatah can't. It's the same reason Hezbollah went into all the Christian neighborhoods and handed out fistfuls of cash after the 2006 War. Have you forgotten that Hamas is into politics now and must compete with Fatah for votes?

Agreed, they are going to draw this out as long as they live. Without Shalit, no meetings in Damascus, no trips to Cairo, Europe and all matters that make them "important". If Shalit were released, Hamas leaders would actually have to turn their attention to governing Gaza. And governing is not kidnap and murder, they have no experience in governing.

During the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War, a poll showed that Israelis trusted Hasan Nasrallah more than they trusted the IDF to tell them the truth about how the war was going.

Not familiar with fox new,s reputation???huh Jane. Believe it or not--Hamas has a far better record on thruth telling than Fox---so called fair and balanced does.

I also asked myself the same question. If Barghoutti is such a strong Fatah representative then what good does it do Hamas. The only answer I have is the Hamas clause of the agreement that Israel promise not to kill any of the released prisoners. Could it be Hamas' long range plans to assasinate Barghoutti and blame it on the IDF. After all they could not kill him while he was in an Israeli jail.

...I hope not, but i believe we will regret Barguti release.

You conveniently forget that the occupying power, Israel, holds many Palestinians prisoner, while the occupied people as represented by Hamas and Fatah hold very few or zero Israelis captive. In light of this situation an exchange of many Palestinian prisoners for just one Israeli captive is not neccessarily disproportionate. Such are the joys of asymmetrical conflict (or occupation, in this case), my friend!

In recent Israeli conflicts including Lebanon and Gaza, international journalists & politicians have constantly called for a proportionate response - meaning if 2 Israeli soldiers are killed then Israel should no do something that will kill 500 arab soldiers or civilians. Well this kind of deal disproves the entire proportionate response argument. If Hamas is prepared to accept 1150 arabs in exchange for 1 Israeli, by definition, the life of 1 Israeli is far more important than an arab's life. Therefore, next time 1 Israeli is hurt in a conflict, there is sufficient precedent and legitimacy to hurt 1000 of the enemy's soldiers or civilians. Arabs - you can't have it both ways, either you think you are equal to or better than us, or you continue acting as though your lives are worthless and we will embrace that argument and continue to treat you as worthless.

Two days ago, Fox News was quoted in JPost, speaking for Hamas, that it was a done deal. Now they report something else. Reporting Fox News' rumors is a disservice to the Shalit family. The Israeli government is still trying to fudge on the terms of any exchange. The negotiations aren't over. Hamas apparently wants what Hamas wants. And the government isn't making progress getting them to want something else.

People, don't you understand? Hamas will never give up Shalit, it just earns some time, knowing that Israelis won't dare to attack too strongly because they've got an Israeli in their hands. So what's the solution for this to never happen again? Make it not work, whether attacking them and looking in all Gaza houses (but at what international cost) or realize Shalit will never be freed until next hostage and 'forget him'. Sad to say.