Former aide to Yasser Arafat, Fuad Shubaki, has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for his role in bringing the Karine-A arms ship to Israel’s shores. The military prosecution had demanded that Shubaki receive a life sentence.
In the pre-dawn hours of January 3, 2002, IDF Navy and Air Force units captured the Palestinian Authority-owned freighter loaded with 50 tons of weapons, which had been purchased by Shubaki, chief procurement and finance officer of the PA.
The Iranian and Russian-made weapons on board included long-range Katyusha rockets with a 20-kilometer range, LAW anti-tank missiles, Sagger anti-tank missiles, long range mortar bombs, mines, sniper rifles, ammunition and more than two tons of high explosives.
At the time of the capture, then-Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said the PA had spent more than $100 million on the arms shipment. Then-IDF Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz said the capture of the weapons prevented uncountable loss of life in Israel.
In an interview with Israel National News, Almagor Terror Victim's Association director Meir Indor said that Shubaki should have received double the sentence due to the amount of terror that could have resulted from the weapons seized. "As it is, he can still get out in ten years with good behavior, and of course there is always the chance he may be traded in a prisoner exchange."
‘Bibi Is Weaker Than Olmert’
Indor slammed Prime Minister Netanyahu in response to reports that Netanyahu has agreed to release hundreds of terrorists in exchange for kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. The activist commented that Bibi is weaker than former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who did not agree to a deal during his term in office.
““Did Olmert freeze Jewish building in Yesha? No, but Bibi has,” said Indor. “That’s because Bibi is associated with the right and is always trying to prove the media wrong. We have seen this weakness in the past too."
"Netanyahu promised he would not sign any agreements with the PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization terrorist group] unless they extradited terrorists," Indor continued, "and then he signed the Hebron agreement regardless. He also promised he would not sign the Wye Plantation agreement without the release of Jonathan Pollard and in the end he did so without Pollard's release. Bibi will give into everything Olmert refused to and his excuse will be that he has managed to agree that some of the terrorists be exiled. But the main point is the freeing of terrorists; where they end up living is mostly irrelevant.“
Indor said that the group would make sure to stain the Prime Minster’s image for life if he went ahead with the deal. “We want Bibi and his aides to know that if he goes ahead with his deal, we will launch a long term campaign exposing his weakness as a leader,” he vowed.