Three people who oppose the prisoner exchange spoke with Arutz-7's Emanuel Shilo this morning. The rabbi of the central Shomron town of Elon Moreh, Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, said that Jewish law negates the deal:
"It's a straight-forward Talmudic ruling: no redeeming of captives for more than they are worth [in order not to impoverish the public, and in order not to encourage further kidnappings]. And this is when the issue is only money - but all the more so when it's a question of life and death. We have seen in the past that wholesale releases of terrorists shoot adrenaline straight into their veins, encouraging the organizations and the released terrorists themselves... If the deal is in fact carried out, Heaven forbid, I am afraid that we will see a great increase in terror activity... In addition, there is another aspect: the debasing of Israel's national honor. This shows that we give in to all their conditions, we dance to their flute... Prime Minister Sharon may be a great Chief of Staff and military man, but as the leader of the people, he must raise its spirit and honor - and he has failed again and again."
Dr. David Bukay of Haifa University's Political Science Department said about the agreement between Mofaz and Sharon regarding stepped-up offensives to obtain information on Ron Arad:
"It's just words; it won't happen. For one thing, we are more vulnerable around the world than Hizbullah is - for example, the attacks on the Jewish targets in Argentina... They make these announcements just to mollify public opinion here, just as with the decision to expel Arafat... If we do kidnap someone, it has to be a very important figure and only within Lebanon... In addition, we have to kill Nasrallah, who continues to score victories against us... At the moment, our situation is that we always ask ourselves how Hizbullah will react to anything we want to do - and this means that we have lost our deterrence. We still have deterrence power vis-a-vis the Arab countries, but not Hizbullah, Hamas or the PA."
Meir Indor of the Almagor Terrorist Victims Association fears that the worst is not yet behind us. He strongly objected to the prisoner exchange on the grounds that a country "must know that it has to pay a price in the war against terrorism." But it may yet get worse, he fears:
"I'm far from certain that Israel won't end up giving in on the matter of Samir Kuntar [the terrorist whose release Hizbullah demands, despite Israel's refusal]. Just as [the father of one of the three soldiers whose bodies are to be returned] said yesterday, that he is worried that Kuntar will hold up the deal, but that he will continue to put pressure on until the deal is actualized."
"It's a straight-forward Talmudic ruling: no redeeming of captives for more than they are worth [in order not to impoverish the public, and in order not to encourage further kidnappings]. And this is when the issue is only money - but all the more so when it's a question of life and death. We have seen in the past that wholesale releases of terrorists shoot adrenaline straight into their veins, encouraging the organizations and the released terrorists themselves... If the deal is in fact carried out, Heaven forbid, I am afraid that we will see a great increase in terror activity... In addition, there is another aspect: the debasing of Israel's national honor. This shows that we give in to all their conditions, we dance to their flute... Prime Minister Sharon may be a great Chief of Staff and military man, but as the leader of the people, he must raise its spirit and honor - and he has failed again and again."
Dr. David Bukay of Haifa University's Political Science Department said about the agreement between Mofaz and Sharon regarding stepped-up offensives to obtain information on Ron Arad:
"It's just words; it won't happen. For one thing, we are more vulnerable around the world than Hizbullah is - for example, the attacks on the Jewish targets in Argentina... They make these announcements just to mollify public opinion here, just as with the decision to expel Arafat... If we do kidnap someone, it has to be a very important figure and only within Lebanon... In addition, we have to kill Nasrallah, who continues to score victories against us... At the moment, our situation is that we always ask ourselves how Hizbullah will react to anything we want to do - and this means that we have lost our deterrence. We still have deterrence power vis-a-vis the Arab countries, but not Hizbullah, Hamas or the PA."
Meir Indor of the Almagor Terrorist Victims Association fears that the worst is not yet behind us. He strongly objected to the prisoner exchange on the grounds that a country "must know that it has to pay a price in the war against terrorism." But it may yet get worse, he fears:
"I'm far from certain that Israel won't end up giving in on the matter of Samir Kuntar [the terrorist whose release Hizbullah demands, despite Israel's refusal]. Just as [the father of one of the three soldiers whose bodies are to be returned] said yesterday, that he is worried that Kuntar will hold up the deal, but that he will continue to put pressure on until the deal is actualized."