The rabbi of Kiryat Arba – Hevron, Rav Dov Lior, published a position paper Sunday evening in which he explains that the Shalit deal contradicts Halakha, or Jewish Law.
"There is no doubt that capitulating to the terrorists' blackmail endangers our brothers, the residents of our land, as has happened in the past, when freed terrorists went back to carrying out terror, and this is a clear danger to the nation in Zion."
"We cannot save one person and endanger, with near certainty, an entire public," Rav Lior wrote. "The terrorists have a goal of humiliating Israel, and this has been proven by the way they have behaved until now, and who knows if they will not try to torpedo the entire move and all that has been done was simply for humiliating the State of Israel. Therefore their demands should not be met."
This does not mean that every effort should not be made for Shalit's freedom, Rav Lior added. "For instance, taking away the terrorists' 'hotel' conditions in jail and stopping all assistance to the Hamas government in Gaza, placing a complete closure and other means that need not be specified here, but not through actions that endanger and humiliate the Nation of Israel."
Rav Ovadiah Yosef, the former Chief Rabbi and one of the most highly respected Halakhic authorities in the land, supports the Shalit deal and has said, after receiving news of the deal, that he wishes to see Gilad Shalit under a wedding canopy soon.