Sa’ar: Backing deal is a ‘very hard decision,’ but cabinet will have to accept it

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says supporting the ceasefire-hostage release deal is a “very hard decision,” but one that must be made.

“I want to be very frank with you and honest. It’s a very hard decision,” Sa’ar says in a speech to Jewish leaders at the Great Synagogue of Rome before he cuts his trip short and returns to Israel for the cabinet votes tomorrow.

“When you decide on the release of so many terrorists, including murderers, who killed Jews — and it’s not the only dimension of the agreement — it’s not an easy decision,” says Sa’ar, but it’s one that “the Israeli cabinet will have to accept.”

Sa’ar says that Israel has “done our utmost and brought home the majority of the hostages, but 98 of them are still there. If we postpone the decision, we don’t know how many of them will survive,” he adds. “So, we have to make a very tough and painful decision.”