Liberman says Israel hasn’t learned its lesson on prisoner swaps

Yisrael Beytenu chief and former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman says during a tour of the north that he was not made aware an Israeli was held by Hamas and was surprised to hear about it.

“I’m afraid this shows the lesson of past such incidents was not learned,” says Liberman. “Since the Jibril prisoner exchange [a 1985 prisoner exchange in which 1,150 Palestinian prisoners were released in exchange for three captive soldiers] we paid high and unreasonable prices. I hope decision makers in this case act according to the recommendation of the Shamgar Commission appointed by the government itself.”

Liberman is referring to a commission appointed by then-prime minister Ehud Barak in the early 2000s to formulate Israel’s policy on releasing captives and POWs.