Speaking to Yediot Achronot, former IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, who resigned followed his unacceptable performance during the Second Lebanon War, expressed his support for the proposed prisoner exchange deal with Hizbullah, including the release of Samir Kuntar.

Halutz stated that Kuntar has been in prison for 30 years, and compelling him to sit another five years will not yield anything new for Israel.

Responding to the argument that Kuntar is being held as a bargaining chip towards obtaining the release of Ron Arad, Halutz stated we must make a differentiation between that which we are seeking to achieve and what we can actually achieve.

He added that he is certain the soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev are dead, but nonetheless he feels a heavy price must be paid to bring their bodies home. Halutz added that if given the option, he would prefer to see Kuntar spend the remainder of his days in prison, but returning the soldiers’ bodies is of paramount importance.

Regarding Gilad Shalit, he stated that like it or not, the value of the Israeli parents has increased over recent years and therefore, the government must also consider what prolonged imprisonment does to a soldier’s parents as well as to the captive himself.

Responding to the remarks, Noam Shalit and Shlomo Goldwasser, the soldier’s fathers rejected Halutz’s remarks stating a “politician” or “public activist” does not have the right to comment since it is not their son sitting in captivity.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)