Terrorists after previous release
Terrorists after previous releaseIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Weeks of speculation on a proposal in the making for Israel to free hundreds of terrorists for the safe return of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit are at a climax as an emotionally taut nation takes sides.

The mini-Cabinet of seven ministers met Sunday night for the third time in one day on the issue, without reaching a decision, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will bring up the proposal before the Cabinet again 9:30 Monday morning.

The mini-Cabinet includes members whom Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has depended on to keep discussions secret, without leaks to the media. However, Channel One television reported that Prime Minister Netanyahu is against the proposal while Defense Minister Ehud Barak favors it.

The family of Shalit and relatives of terror victims continued to take opposite sides on the principle of Israel risking more terrorist attacks and kidnappings by freeing terrorists. The Almagor terror victims association repeatedly has pointed out that previous releases of terrorists have resulted in the murder of at least 179 Israelis at the hands of the same terrorists who promised not to return to violence.

The family of Shalit made another emotional appeal to Prime Minister Netanyahu Sunday, expressing fears that a rejection of any proposal would leave their son to be “Ron Arad number two,” referring to the plane navigator whose fate has been unknown since his plane was downed over Lebanon more than two decades ago.

Both Almagor and the family of Shalit send letters on Sunday to the Prime Minister. Terror victims' families reminded him that his brother, Yoni Netanyahu, gave up his life while leading elite commandos to free kidnap victims in the dramatic rescue at Entebbe in 1976.

“Your brother rendered the highest sacrifice in order to defend the State of Israel against terror,” they wrote in a letter. “If you choose to surrender to terror, what is the significance of Yoni’s action? What is the significance for other soldiers and their families? If you surrender, who will be blamed for the river of blood that will be spilled? Don’t disappoint us and the people who voted for you.”

An equally emotional appeal by Noam and Aviva Shalit, parents of the kidnapped solider, included the plea “not to repeat the tragedy of Ron Arad. G-d forbid we [should] add to this wound which was seared onto Israeli society, and has seen sorrow for generations,” they wrote.

The seven ministers in the mini-Cabinet are reportedly divided. One of the members, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, chairman of the Israel Our Home (Yisrael Beiteinu) parry, has vowed that terrorists with blood on their hands will not be freed. Liked Minister Benny Begin also is said to agree with him.

Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor of the Likud has backed freeing prisoners. The rumor mill continues to spin with different versions of what is being considered, but no one has officially confirmed or denied several conflicting reports.