High Court rejects petition against hostage deal, paving way for its implementation tomorrow

The High Court of Justice rejects the petition filed by the Almagor organization against the deal to bring back some of the Israeli hostages from  Gaza, and says the government has the authority to make such agreements.

The decision paves the way for the exchange deal, in which Israel will release 150 Palestinian security prisoners in return for 50 Israeli hostages, to go ahead.

Justice Alex Stein rejects Almagor’s arguments that the deal violates the right to equality of hostages being left behind, saying that it is a moral responsibility to bring home captives, citing the medieval rabbinical scholar Maimonides.

“This difficult matter is entirely in the realm of considerations of war and peace, and foreign policy, which are in the hands of the government. This is a clear-cut issue of policy which the court cannot address, something we have emphasized repeatedly in a number of rulings,” writes Stein.