In light of growing public criticism against the deal approved by the government which carries a very high price for the return of IDF soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, who are presumed dead, Defense Minister Ehud Barak has established a committee to formulate guidelines that would apply in the event of future need.

Barak has appointed retired judge Meir Shamgar, Prof. Asa Kasher, the author of the IDF’s Code of Ethics and retired IDF major-general Amos Yaron. The three have agreed to Barak’s request and are expected to begin soon. The recommendations Barak stated will not apply to the current deals, involving Regev and Goldwasser or Gilad Shalit.

During consultations with former major-generals, Barak was criticized for the high price Israel is paying for bodies, with some of his former colleagues stating there is no justification for the release of terrorists for bodies, especially arch terrorist Samir Kuntar.

The three will examine past exchange deals as well as addressing many questions, including the debate if live terrorists should be released for the return of bodies; the ‘value’ of an IDF soldier as compared to a citizen, or perhaps as compared to a criminal, making reference to the exchange deal for the release of Elchanan Tannenbaum.

A small number of the major-generals who met with Barak were actually not critical, stating they feel that if we compare to previous prisoner deals with Hizbullah, Israel got off easy in this case, despite agreement to release Kuntar.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)