Domestic political reactions to the latest news on the deal leading to the release of the Israeli hostages:
Infrastructures Minister Yosef Paritzky (Shinui): "I'm glad this difficult story has come to an end. The heart is with the families of the fallen, who can finally bring their dear ones to burial in Israel... Obeid and Dirani are no longer an asset to us, but rather a liability, as they have already given us all the information they have."
Welfare Minister Zevulun Orlev (NRP) told Arutz-7 today,
"I was one of the sharp opponents of the deal at the time, for three reasons: our moral obligation to Ron Arad; the great concern that freed terrorists would resume their terrorist activities; and the extra boost that it gives Hizbullah. But now that it has been approved and will be carried out, I stand behind it and see no reason to continue to object to it and to add pain to the families. There are times when we must unite."
Orlev said that the government decided in November that Samir Kuntar "would not be freed, period, but if there are new developments, such as concrete information on Ron Arad, the government will have to decide anew whether this justifies the release of Kuntar." He added that terrorists "with blood on their hands will not be released," but in any event, "the list must be publicized 48 hours in advance, and we, with the families and our friend Meir Indor and the terror-victim organizations, will carefully check it to make sure there are no mistakes, as there were in the past, and that we do not pay too high of a price."
MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) said that he is sure that in the end, Samir Kuntar and other terrorist murderers will be released, "because it has been shown that Prime Minister Sharon and the ministers simply cannot withstand the pressure from the families. The terrorist organizations know that this is our weak point, and they will continue to take advantage of this by trying to collect more bodies." In Eldad's opinion, "Hizbullah is holding us by the throat. Otherwise, there is no explanation for the fact that last week, in retaliation for the murder of our soldier as he was dismantling mines placed by Hizbullah in order to kill Israelis, we retaliated so weakly. It was because this deal was in the works, and we were afraid to rock the boat. We are dancing to Hizbullah's tune."
Yehudit Dasberg, who is raising her two grandchildren following the terrorist murder of her daughter and son-in-law Efrat and Yaron Ungar in June 1996, is also strongly against the Tenenbaum deal. Although terrorists with "blood on their hands" are not to be released, she acknowledged in a talk with Arutz-7 today, "the government is already saying that Samir Kuntar, who participated in the murder of four Jews, will be released if information on Ron Arad is received. So why are they acting as if they will never release murderers?" In addition, she feels that "the hundreds of prisoners released in the 1985 Jibril deal [in which 1,150 Arab prisoners were freed in exchange for three captive Israeli soldiers] brought about the first intifada, which in turn led to the second one [and many Israeli deaths]. The government then did not know what would happen and had good intentions, but we must not repeat the same mistakes again." She explained that she has a list of terrorists freed in previous exchanges that later took part in murderous terrorist attacks. "How are the murderers of our three soldiers being punished? Exchanges of this type merely encourage more kidnappings and more murders, and we thus lose another level of deterrence. Ariel Sharon, who is supposed to be Mr. Security, has made every possible mistake and thus destabilized our security in every corner."
"It's been said that the politicians simply cannot face the families, and that's why they gave in," Arutz-7's Emanuel Shilo said. Mrs. Dasberg acknowledged, "So that three mothers can bring their child to burial, all of Israel must face the prospect of even more terrorist murders and deaths on the streets? I simply do not understand. How will they be able to show their faces in public? True, if it were my child who was involved, I would very very much want this exchange to go through. But I expect from our Prime Minister, who is responsible for the security of the entire state, to ignore my private tears, and deal with the needs of the collective. This is a problematic area today, when the public awareness is that the individual is in the center, and the rest is not important... What happened to our national proportions?"
MK Yuri Stern (National Union): "This exchange is an act of insanity, contrary to all principles of the war against terrorism. It is liable to strengthen Hizbullah and encourage abductions of other Israeli citizens."
The twin brother of Omar Saoud, one of the three soldiers whose bodies will be returned to Israel this week, said last night, "No price is too high for the State of Israel to pay for their release."
Other hostage relatives have not felt the same way. In 1969, Prof. Shmuel Samueloff and another Israeli Jew spent 99 days in a Damascus prison after their TWA plane was hijacked on its way to Israel. Naomi Samueloff, on a trip to the U.S. to gather support for her husband's release, was asked her thoughts at the time about a possible exchange of Syrians in exchange for her husband. She replied, "I am not prepared to request anything that might endanger anyone else or undermine my country's security - not to mention its principles," she replied. Shortly afterwards, when asked a similar question, her reply became a headline in the New York papers: "Should a Thief be Paid to Return What He Has Stolen? Asks Proud Wife of Damascus Prisoner."
Infrastructures Minister Yosef Paritzky (Shinui): "I'm glad this difficult story has come to an end. The heart is with the families of the fallen, who can finally bring their dear ones to burial in Israel... Obeid and Dirani are no longer an asset to us, but rather a liability, as they have already given us all the information they have."
Welfare Minister Zevulun Orlev (NRP) told Arutz-7 today,
"I was one of the sharp opponents of the deal at the time, for three reasons: our moral obligation to Ron Arad; the great concern that freed terrorists would resume their terrorist activities; and the extra boost that it gives Hizbullah. But now that it has been approved and will be carried out, I stand behind it and see no reason to continue to object to it and to add pain to the families. There are times when we must unite."
Orlev said that the government decided in November that Samir Kuntar "would not be freed, period, but if there are new developments, such as concrete information on Ron Arad, the government will have to decide anew whether this justifies the release of Kuntar." He added that terrorists "with blood on their hands will not be released," but in any event, "the list must be publicized 48 hours in advance, and we, with the families and our friend Meir Indor and the terror-victim organizations, will carefully check it to make sure there are no mistakes, as there were in the past, and that we do not pay too high of a price."
MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) said that he is sure that in the end, Samir Kuntar and other terrorist murderers will be released, "because it has been shown that Prime Minister Sharon and the ministers simply cannot withstand the pressure from the families. The terrorist organizations know that this is our weak point, and they will continue to take advantage of this by trying to collect more bodies." In Eldad's opinion, "Hizbullah is holding us by the throat. Otherwise, there is no explanation for the fact that last week, in retaliation for the murder of our soldier as he was dismantling mines placed by Hizbullah in order to kill Israelis, we retaliated so weakly. It was because this deal was in the works, and we were afraid to rock the boat. We are dancing to Hizbullah's tune."
Yehudit Dasberg, who is raising her two grandchildren following the terrorist murder of her daughter and son-in-law Efrat and Yaron Ungar in June 1996, is also strongly against the Tenenbaum deal. Although terrorists with "blood on their hands" are not to be released, she acknowledged in a talk with Arutz-7 today, "the government is already saying that Samir Kuntar, who participated in the murder of four Jews, will be released if information on Ron Arad is received. So why are they acting as if they will never release murderers?" In addition, she feels that "the hundreds of prisoners released in the 1985 Jibril deal [in which 1,150 Arab prisoners were freed in exchange for three captive Israeli soldiers] brought about the first intifada, which in turn led to the second one [and many Israeli deaths]. The government then did not know what would happen and had good intentions, but we must not repeat the same mistakes again." She explained that she has a list of terrorists freed in previous exchanges that later took part in murderous terrorist attacks. "How are the murderers of our three soldiers being punished? Exchanges of this type merely encourage more kidnappings and more murders, and we thus lose another level of deterrence. Ariel Sharon, who is supposed to be Mr. Security, has made every possible mistake and thus destabilized our security in every corner."
"It's been said that the politicians simply cannot face the families, and that's why they gave in," Arutz-7's Emanuel Shilo said. Mrs. Dasberg acknowledged, "So that three mothers can bring their child to burial, all of Israel must face the prospect of even more terrorist murders and deaths on the streets? I simply do not understand. How will they be able to show their faces in public? True, if it were my child who was involved, I would very very much want this exchange to go through. But I expect from our Prime Minister, who is responsible for the security of the entire state, to ignore my private tears, and deal with the needs of the collective. This is a problematic area today, when the public awareness is that the individual is in the center, and the rest is not important... What happened to our national proportions?"
MK Yuri Stern (National Union): "This exchange is an act of insanity, contrary to all principles of the war against terrorism. It is liable to strengthen Hizbullah and encourage abductions of other Israeli citizens."
The twin brother of Omar Saoud, one of the three soldiers whose bodies will be returned to Israel this week, said last night, "No price is too high for the State of Israel to pay for their release."
Other hostage relatives have not felt the same way. In 1969, Prof. Shmuel Samueloff and another Israeli Jew spent 99 days in a Damascus prison after their TWA plane was hijacked on its way to Israel. Naomi Samueloff, on a trip to the U.S. to gather support for her husband's release, was asked her thoughts at the time about a possible exchange of Syrians in exchange for her husband. She replied, "I am not prepared to request anything that might endanger anyone else or undermine my country's security - not to mention its principles," she replied. Shortly afterwards, when asked a similar question, her reply became a headline in the New York papers: "Should a Thief be Paid to Return What He Has Stolen? Asks Proud Wife of Damascus Prisoner."