News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) The three cabinet ministers out of 25 who voted against a prisoner exchange said it was a victory for the Lebanon-based terror organization.  Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann, Housing Minister Ze'ev Boim(Kadima) and Finance Minister Ronni Bar-On (Kadima) opposed.

"After Kuntar is released, who will prevent the release of Marwan Barghouti?" asked the Finance Minister. Barghouti is serving five life sentences for spearheading a series of terror organizations and operations since the first Intifada in 1987. Bar-On added that "anyone who says that Samir Kuntar wasn’t a bargaining chip for missing IAF navigator Ron Arad is wrong…A government promise was made to the Arad family, and it mustn't be broken."

Justice Minister Friedmann said that "approving the deal sends a message of weakness," adding that "this is a terrible deal. The price is too high."

Boim said during the Cabinet’s deliberations that "preventing terror is of the utmost importance - no less than that of returning the [abducted] soldiers." He also warned that Hizbullah would see the deal as a victory and Kuntar as a symbol of that victory:"a lowly despicable terrorist, whose stock we elevated in 2004, will become a symbol. We mustn't underestimate symbols - they are the cause of rivers of bloodshed throughout human history."

Sunday's cabinet decision cleared the way for the German-mediated exchange with Hizbullah. Under the deal, Israel would free five Lebanese guerrillas, including Kuntar, and repatriate ten sets of remains. Sources in Israel said the swap would probably take place by July 12 during Hizbullah’s victory ceremony to mark the second anniversary of the Second Lebanon War in which 119 Israeli soldiers were killed.