IDF ready to follow orders on prisoner release

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said Sunday that the army has submitted its recommendations regarding the proposal to release 104 security prisoners concurrent with new peace talks with the Palestinians, and that the IDF will continue to ensure Israel’s security whatever the government decides.

“The IDF is in constant and consistent contact with the political leadership and has presented to it the implications of the decision,” Gantz said on Sunday at Israel’s central army induction center, where he visited new recruits to the tank corps.

The government was due to vote on the release of the prisoners, including those who committed lethal acts of terror, during a cabinet meeting on Sunday. The commitment to a phased prisoner release is a goodwill gesture to the Palestinian Authority ahead of the launch of renewed talks in Washington following a three-year hiatus.

Gantz also commented on the fragile state of security on Israel’s borders and stressed that the country has no interest in a military campaign on its northern borders.

Turning his attention to Gaza, Gantz warned that the terror organizations there know that if Israel acts against them, Israel will “send Gaza back to its darkest days.”