The head of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee says the details of an emerging prisoner swap with the Hamas terror group in Gaza are “outrageous” and will bring hundreds of terrorists “back into circulation.”
Hamas is currently believed to hold two Israeli civilians, Avera Avraham Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who entered Gaza of their own accord in 2014-2015, and the remains of two Israeli soldiers, Sergeant First Class Oron Shaul and Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, killed in action during the 2014 Gaza war.
Ostensible details of the deal were reported by Hebrew media in recent days, with unnamed Israeli officials saying that Israel will not allow murderers to be released, but that it is expected to include various gestures toward Gaza, including medical aid to help deal with coronavirus in the territory.
Derech Eretz MK Zvi Hauser, head of the powerful FADC, tweets that as part of his work “I have been privy to all the details.”
MK Zvi Hauser at a Knesset committee meeting on May 20, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
He warns it would violate the recommendations made by the 2012 Shamgar Commission that set out to determine principles for prisoner releases.
“I call on the prime minister to withdraw from this dangerous move and learn the lessons of the Shalit deal, the majority of whose freed prisoners returned to terror.”
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