IDF soldiers killed the mastermind behind a suicide terrorist attack in which a Dimona woman was killed in February. The two suicide terrorists and their dispatcher had all been jailed in Israel – and released – for terrorist activity in the past.

Heavy Gun Battle

The IDF spokesman’s office reported that Border Guard Police, Shin Bet (security service) and special IDF Yamam forces surrounded the house, and demanded that he give himself up. He refused to do so, and instead, shots were fired from inside. Explosions could also be heard from inside the house, believed to be from bombs stored there. After an extended gun battle, an army bulldozer arrived and flattened the house, crushing the Hamas terrorist in the rubble.

Freed Terrorists Committed the Attack

It was later reported that the dead terrorist mastermind, as well as the two suicide killers he dispatched, had previously been jailed for terrorist activity in Israel, but were released. This news took on extra poignancy in light of the recent release of live Hizbullah terrorists in exchange for two dead Israeli soldiers, as well as the ongoing negotiations for the release of Gilad Shalit, for whom Hamas demands up to 1,000 jailed terrorists.

Meir Indor of the Almagor Terror Victims Association, a major player in the struggle against releasing Palestinian terrorists from prison, told Arutz-7 that he is drafting a letter to Prime Minister Olmert and Defense Minister Barak, asking them what lessons are being learned from the latest incident regarding the negotiations for Shalit.

The IDF reported that the dead bomb-maker was involved in preparing additional attacks against Israelis when he was killed.

In the lethal attack last February, a Palestinian terrorists blew himself up in the commercial center of Dimona, a Negev city a half-hour south of Be’er Sheva. Resident Lyubav Razdolskaya, 73, was killed in the blast, her husband was seriously wounded, and dozens of others were also hurt.

A second suicide terrorist was injured by his comrade’s explosion. Citizens who approached him to offer help noticed the explosives he was wearing on his person, and ran away. He was then killed by an elite unit police officer, Kobi Mor, who arrived on the scene.

Fatah, the ruling organization of the Palestinian Authority headed by perceived-moderate Mahmoud Abbas, claimed responsibility for the attack at the time. It announced that its terrorists had entered Israel through Sinai, which they had entered the week before from Gaza via the Philadelphi Route, broken down for several days by Gaza residents.

However, in actuality, it was Hamas that perpetrated the attack.

The army unit comrades of Gilad Shalit are completing their 3-year compulsory army service with a march to the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on his behalf. Shalit has been held in captivity by Hamas-affiliated terrorists in Gaza for over two years.

Shalit’s comrades completed their service and signed out of the army, as is customary, at the Bakum—Recruitment Center—in Tel HaShomer this morning (Tuesday), and from there, plan to proceed—at 2 PM—on a two-hour march to the Defense Ministry headquarters in southern Tel Aviv. A major rally will be held this evening in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square, in which thousands of people are expected to call for Shalit’s release.

Negotiations Appear to be Stalled

Though Israel’s recent release of five Lebanese terrorists, including child-murderer Samir Kuntar, in exchange for the bodies of two abducted soldiers was expected to give a jump-start to negotiations for Shalit’s release, this does not appear to have happened. Neither has the temporary ceasefire with Hamas seem to have had any effect. “The calm has been in place for a month and a half already, and there is still no progress on his release,” Gilad’s father Noam said last night.

Both Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Hamas, however, have declared their intention to keep the negotiations secret.

Soldiers to Barak: Where is Gilad?

The marchers plan to read aloud from a letter they wrote to Prime Minister Olmert and Defense Minister Barak, the bottom line of which is, “We are out; when will Gilad be out as well?”

Of the 11 soldiers who joined the army together with Shalit three years ago, two of them are signing up for an additional term of service. Gilad, too, will be officially listed on the IDF computers as a “career serviceman,” until his release from captivity.

The 11 will meet with Barak today. Maariv-NRG quoted a “source close to the soldiers” as saying, “They will tell Minister Barak that they are willing to do anything that will help return Gilad home from captivity.”

Price Expected to Rise

It is widely expected that the recent deal with Hizbullah will raise the price Israel will be expected to pay for Shalit. The five live terrorists and nearly 200 bodies that Israel paid for two corpses means, to Hamas at least, that a live soldier is worth many times that amount.

Hamas Not Clear on Its Demands

Hamas has been demanding close to 1,000 terrorists—though it cannot seem to agree on exactly which ones. The various factions connected with the abduction have been able to compile a list of only 320 agreed-upon names, of which Israel has agreed to free only 71. Israel has agreed in principle, however, to release nearly 300 other prisoners in exchange for Shalit.

Against Paying a High Price

Many voices have been raised against paying a high price for Shalit’s freedom, though these do not usually receive much air time in the Israeli media. A prominent spokesman for this approach is IDF Col. (ret.) Meir Indor of the Almagor Terror Victims Association. He has long warned that at least 30% of released terrorists return to terrorist activity, “thus creating another cycle of terror and bloodshed.”

Indor also notes the harmful effects of the widely-publicized pressure by the families on the government: “Our enemies monitor our newspapers and media very carefully, and they view as weakness the tearful appeals of families for their missing sons. This causes them to raise their price. An example of this is the infamous 1985 Jibril Deal; [PFLP head Ahmed] Jibril himself later said that after he heard the cries of the mothers of the abducted soldiers and understood the extent of their pressure on the Israeli government, he raised his price from 200 to 2,000 prisoners, ultimately ‘compromising’ on 1,160.”

“The more that families campaign for their abducted sons, the more pressure they put on the government—the more they play into the hands of Hizbollah and Hamas,” Indor said. “That is sad but true.”

Meir Indor, head of the Almagor terror victims association, has charged that the government made a mistake by “revealing its hand” in the negotiations on securing the return of the bodies of kidnapped IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. He also said that the media’s display of the “tearful appeals of the families” of the kidnap victim shows the enemy that Israel is weak.

Publicity of the families’ ordeal causes terrorist leaders “to raise the price,” according to Indor, a former senior IDF officer. He cited the 1985 deal with PLFP leader Ahmed Jibril. Indor stated that after Jibril heard the protests and cries of the mothers of kidnapped soldiers, he raised from 200 to 2,000 his demand for the release of terrorists.

“If we are willing to release [Samir] Kuntar and four other [terrorists] for bodies of two dead soldiers, we give our enemies the message that even if they kill kidnapped Israelis, they can still command a high price for them,” Indor asserted.

“When there is pressure, we have to respond with counter pressure. Remember that our enemies monitor our newspapers and media very carefully, and they view the tearful appeals of families for their missing sons as weakness.

“Although it is painful to say this, we must realize that in negotiation, you don’t reveal your hand. The more that families campaign for their abducted sons, the more pressure they put on the government – the more they play into the hands of the Hizbullah and Hamas. That is sad but true.”

Indor illustrated his point with an old story about a Cohen family that was trying to buy a car. “As David Cohen and the dealer dicker over the price, Ellen Cohen cries to her husband, ‘But dear, I really want this car!’ As soon as she says that, the price shoots up and their cover is blown. Negotiations – even concerning human beings, unfortunately – is never the place to reveal your emotions to the other side, especially when the other side is your enemy.”

Indor called on the government to “keep a stiff upper lip” in negotiations. His comments came the same day that three Cabinet ministers said that the government should pay whatever price is necessary, and do so as soon as possible, in order to return abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit alive.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed two years ago, immediately after Hamas and other terrorists kidnapped Shalit, that he would not conduct any negotiations to release terrorists for his return. Ofir Dekel, who negotiated the deal with Hizbullah, is in Cairo this week to continue negotiations with Hamas, via Egyptian mediators, for Shalit’s return.

Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chair Tzachi Hanegbi fiercely opposes the high price Israel pays in prisoner swaps, yet if he were the one making the decisions, he’s not sure he could withstand the pressure.

Leaders “know there is a growing demand to pay painful prices, so they don’t take risks,” he said. “I can’t imagine a prime minister standing before the people and explaining that he is only willing to pay a limited price to save Gilad Shalit’s life, because he would face unbearable criticism.”

Hanegbi notes he isn’t talking specifically about Olmert, but about all Israel’s prime ministers of the past two decades.

“The prime ministers see they don’t have the public’s support, and they don’t have the media’s support,” he said. “And if Bogey [Moshe] Ya’alon dares express a deviant opinion, the families call him a ‘little busybody’ and no one wants to stand behind him.” Prime ministers “find themselves in the position of being the enemy, not terror, and they are accused of keeping the boys from coming home due to their inflexibility.”

This limits their ability to make decisions for the good of the state and limit concessions, he said.

The abductees’ lobby undoubtedly has been Israel’s strongest over the past two years. Initially after their abduction, in July 2006, Ehud Goldwasser’s and Eldad Regev’s families were careful when talking to the press. The families stayed home and virtually did not speak. Goldwasser’s father Shlomo was the only one who took a slightly different stance: Let’s use the army of reporters camped outside our door, as our mouthpiece for the public and public officials.

This position slowly became the families’ policy. Goldwasser’s wife Karnit became the most dominant character in the campaign. Family members became increasingly open, and the press gave them an open mic.

The families and friends established the Campaign for the Abducted Soldiers, including a Web site. Goldwasser and Regev’s army comrades established another headquarters. The two groups organized a series of events.

“The point was that no one in the country would not know who Udi is, who Eldad is and who Gilad is. And in that, we succeeded,” said Miki Leibovitz, an activist with the second group, this week.

In a matter of months, it became the people’s campaign. Schools, clubs, organizations here and abroad and even major corporations joined the effort. Not a week went by without an event for the abducted soldiers, like a march from Eilat to the abduction point on the northern border. The families said the events were important in order to “stay on the agenda.”

“I know that people say the power of the Israeli people is the value we attach to human life, but that is not a source of power but a source of weakness, and it doesn’t help to glamorize it,” said psychology professor Shlomo Breznitz.

“We call the abductees ‘the boys.’ They are everyone’s children – even that expression is enough to weaken those who must withstand the pressure,” said Breznitz, a former Kadima Knesset member. Breznitz says there was no counter voice to the families’ campaign, “because it is difficult to face the media terror.”

Meir Indor of the Organization of Casualties of Terror Attacks says that while the public understands that rape victims deserve to see the perpetrator punished, terror victims are treated entirely differently – their murderers are freed in exchange for abductees. Indor believes this is because prisoner swaps are subject to political polemic. The families’ campaign had a lot of money, and was very sophisticated, making use of the slogan “Our apathy will kill them,” among others.

“I don’t know how to work that way,” Indor said. “Hezbollah’s long arm moved the Regev and Goldwasser families.”

When told that is a very harsh comment, he responded that the families “didn’t cooperate willingly but became hostages. But the result of their campaign is that all of Israel became its hostages.”

The Hizbullah-linked Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported Tuesday that one of the two IDF reservists kidnapped by Hizbullah terrorists, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, was killed during the raid that ignited the war.

The report added, “Reliable sources have been unable to ascertain the condition of the second one.”

One of the terrorists who participated in the abduction reported loading the two soldiers on to stretchers and said, “It was obvious that one of them was dead.” The stretchers were then loaded into a civilian vehicle and transported into Lebanon.

Another team of terrorists, according to the report, was assigned the task of removing evidence and “cleaning the area of the attack” to make it more difficult for the IDF to track the captives.

The report also noted that the entire attack was videotaped by Hizbullah, which is currently deciding how and when to air the footage.

There was no reaction to the report from the Israeli government. Spokesman Mark Regev from the Prime Minister’s Office said the government had “nothing new to say on the matter.”

‘Whoever Killed Them Must Not Come Out of it Alive’

Ehud’s father, Shlomo Goldwasser, said in an interview with AFP that his son’s kidnappers should be killed if he and his fellow reservist are not returned alive.

“If the boys come back in coffins, it means someone killed them. In my personal opinion, whoever killed them must not come out of it alive,” he said.

Shachar Family Files Second Appeal to Block Hizbullah Swap

The family of fallen Israel Police officer Eliyahu Shachar made a second unsuccessful attempt to block the government from carrying out the prisoner swap with Hizbullah terrorists on Wednesday.

The family filed a claim with the Supreme Court contending that by providing a report which is “empty of real content” regarding captured Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad, missing in action since 1986, Hizbullah had not held up its end of the deal.

Joining the family in the motion were the parents of other IDF soldiers who fell in the 2006 Second Lebanon War, along with the Almagor Terror Victims’ Association.

Cabinet Votes to Proceed with Swap

The Cabinet voted nonetheless on Tuesday to proceed with the swap, despite fierce objections by members of the intelligence community, among others.

As a result, Lebanese child-murderer Samir Kuntar and four other live Hizbullah terrorists will walk through the Rosh HaNikra border crossing as free men on Wednesday. Officer Shachar was one of Kuntar’s other victims.

In addition, the remains of 190 terrorists in new coffins will be delivered to Lebanon as well.

In return, Israel will receive Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev – in what condition, no one really knows. Hizbullah has never allowed the International Red Cross Association or any other agency or private individual to ascertain their condition, nor has the group ever released information as to their status. The body parts of IDF soldiers who fell during the 2006 war will reportedly be returned as well.

Deputy Prime Minister and Trade, Industry, and Labor Minister Eli Yishai (Shas), before entering the meeting, said Israel should continue on a dual track approach: “I am certain that if it were possible today to return Ron (Arad) then all those who wish for Regev and Goldwasser to return safely wouldn’t prevent it.”

Yishai called for the other ministers to vote to approve the ransom deal with Hizbullah, while simultaneously increasing Israel’s efforts to discover Arad’s whereabouts and status.

The relatives of policeman Eliyahu Shahar, who was murdered by Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar during a cross-border raid on Nahariya in 1979, again petitioned the High Court of Justice on Tuesday morning against the imminent prisoner exchange deal, despite the court’s rejection of a similar plea last week.

The cabinet is expected to give its final authorization for the deal, which will go through on Wednesday.

In their petition the Shahar brothers assert that they must be allowed to make their case before the cabinet ministers prior to the vote. If all believe captive soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev to be dead, the family says, it is inconceivable to exchange living prisoners for corpses.

They also claim Hizbullah failed to fulfill its commitment to provide Israel with a comprehensive report regarding the fate of MIA navigator Ron Arad.

Also party to the petition are bereaved parents of soldiers killed in the Second Lebanon War and the Almagor organization for victims of terror.

“The release of terrorists simply is not justified under these circumstances, as there has been no sign of life from the captives. The government’s working assumption is that they are no longer alive, and therefore freeing living terrorists for bodies isn’t reasonable,” the family said.

Eliyahu’s brother, Yoram Shahar said on Monday evening that “even if I can only delay the release by an hour – I’ll do it.”

Arad Report ‘Insufficient’

The deal with Hizbullah was agreed upon in principal by the government about two weeks ago, but was conditioned on receiving a final report from the Lebanese organization, with further details about missing navigator Ron Arad, whose whereabouts have remained unknown since 1988, two years after his capture.

The report obtained from Hizbullah included Arad’s photos and journal – but was deemed by the defense establishment ‘insufficient.”

Another stage in the anticipated swap deal included Sunday’s publication by the Israel Prison Service of the list of five Lebanese prisoners kept in Israel, who are due to be released in the coming days, including the notorious Samir Kuntar who murdered Eliyahu and three of the Haran family members. The list is meant to enable civilians who wish to petition the court against the prisoners’ release – to do so.

The Shahar family is considering the option, and met with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni late Monday to discuss the possibility. Yoram Shahar said that Livni willingly agreed to meet with them and asked them why they’d waited so long.

The family members asked Livni to vote against Kuntar’s release during Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, and claimed that no other government minister had agreed to meet with them. Livni is expected, however, to stick to her decision to support the swap deal.

“I will do everything, anything in my power to prevent that murderer Samir Kuntar’s release,” Shahar told Ynet. “It’s time everyone understood that Kuntar’s release is an issue that pertains to the country’s security and not just me personally. This is a problem that should be important to every household in Israel.”

Despite the rejection of his previous plea, Shahar said: “I believe in the final outcome and I will do everything to stop his (Kuntar’s) release.”

Last week, soldiers from the Engineering Corps as well as 100 men from the Military Rabbinate began the process of exhuming the terrorists’ bodies from the cemetery for enemy casualties at Kibbutz Amiad.

The soldiers extracted the coffins of some 190 Hizbullah members, in preparation for transferal to Lebanon.

Yoram and Ronen Shahar Photo: Gil Yohanan

The High Court of Justice on Tuesday refused to hear a petition filed by the family of slain policeman Eliyahu Shachar against the deal between Israel and Hizbullah.

The exchange involves the release of Samir Kuntar, who killed Shachar and brutally executed another man, Danny Haran, and his 4-year-old daughter Einat in 1979. The petition was filed by the Almagor Terror Victims Association and Yoram and Simcha Shachar, Eliyahu’s brother and sister.

“The High Court spat in the faces of the bereaved families who lost their loved ones in Samir Kuntar’s terror attack and spat on the graves of our loved ones,” Yoram Shachar said after the court’s decision. “We are very disappointed, insulted and hurt by the discriminatory treatment given to our pain compared to the pain of others. It can’t be that they wouldn’t even listen to us.”

He was alluding to the family of Gilad Shalit, whose appeal was heard in a long session of the High Court two weeks ago. In that hearing, the High Court similarly determined that it would not intervene in government decisions of this nature, but added that a ministerial committee should convene to re-consider the Shalit case.

‘Cabinet is Sole Authority’

Supreme Court Deputy President Judge Eliezer Rivlin said that Kuntar’s release was approved after proper consideration by the cabinet and that the court preferred not to intervene in such cases. “The decision was made at the cabinet’s discretion in dealings connected to Israel’s foreign policy and defense. In instances like this, the court plays a very restrained role,” he wrote.

Rivlin determined that the cabinet was the sole authority in decisions such as the signing of a deal with Hizbullah and the release of Arab terrorists. “Considerations need to be made in the framework of [wider] government decisions and are outside of the legal establishment’s jurisdiction. [The government] has the authority, the information and the capability” to make such decisions, he explained.

‘Abuse of Terror Victims’
Almagor slammed the court’s decision as “abuse of terror victims, who come to demand that their brother’s cries from the grave for justice are heeded.”

Simcha Shachar said before the court session that Kuntar “is an arch-murderer to whom we cannot give a prize by releasing him, even after 30 years. Let them give back bodies for bodies and not set free a murderer like Kuntar.”

Keren Shachar, who was three when her father was murdered, said: “If one of the soldiers was definitely alive we would agree, but as long as the formal elements say that both soldiers are not alive then let them return bodies for bodies. I cannot bear to see the person who turned me into an orphan at age three return a free man to his family and mother.”

Almagor chairman Meir Indor said: “By agreeing to the deal, the government surrendered not to the pressure of the abducted soldiers’ families – but to the pressure of the terror organizations, which manipulated the families’ distress by not giving them any information about their relatives and not allowing any visits by the Red Cross. This is how terror works: it plants seeds of deep fear inside the hearts of our people and causes them to make irrational choices and serve the terror organizations’ interests.”

The High Court of Justice rejected Tuesday a petition against the prisoner exchange deal with Hizbullah filed by the family of policeman Eliyahu Shahar, who was murdered along with Danny Haran and his 4-year-old daughter by Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar in 1979 during a cross-border raid on Nahariya.

In the appeal, which was filed with the Almagor Terror Victims Association, the court was asked to hold another hearing on the agreement, according to which Israel is expected to release Kuntar and four other Lebanese prisoners and return to Lebanon the remains of some 200 slain Hizbullah gunmen in exchange for IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, who are believed dead.

In a later stage of the deal, Israel will also release an undetermined number of Palestinian prisoners.

In the ruling Justice Eliezer Rivlin wrote that the decision to reject the plea was unanimous. He said the government is the sole authority when it comes to signing deals such as the one reached with Hizbullah and releasing Palestinian prisoners.

Yoram Shahar, Eliyahu’s brother, said in response “the rejection of the petition disgraces each and every Israeli citizen, because we do not realize what a mass murderer we are releasing. He (Kuntar) is not remorseful and he never said he would not resume his terror-related activity,” the brother said.

“Letting Kuntar go is akin to giving (Hizbullah leader Hassan) Nasrallah the formula for the atomic bomb.”

Shahar continued to say “(Kuntar) should especially not be released in exchange for two bodies. We are hurting our deterrence, because this move may create a situation in which Nasrallah realizes that Israel has changed the rules of the game.

“Where are our red lines? What is preventing him (Nasrallah) from kidnapping of another soldier and demanding an F-16 jet in exchange for his return?” he said.

In its answer to the appeal the State said excluding Kuntar from the deal would likely result its complete collapse, adding that such a move would have massive diplomatic and defense-related ramifications.

Shimon Peres’ office is expected to receive the official request to pardon Kuntar within the next few days, but an aide said the president won’t approve the request until “a certain stage” in the deal is reached to make certain the prisoner swap is implemented in full.

The president is expected to consult with the relevant officials, including negotiator Ofer Dekel, before reaching his decision.

The State on Tuesday asked the High Court of Justice to reject outright the appeal filed by the family of police officer Eliyahu Shahar, who was killed by Samir Kuntar in 1979, against the prisoner exchange deal signed between Israel and Hizbullah.

The release of Kuntar, arguably one of the highest profile prisoners being held by Israel, has stirred emotional and tactical debate.

Considered the most valuable remaining bargaining chip for information on the fate of MIA navigator Ron Arad, Kuntar is also serving out multiple life sentences for the murder of Danny Haran and his two young daughters.

Within the framework of the deal, Hizbullah will return kidnapped IDF soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, presumed dead, and provide a detailed report on Arad in exchange for Kuntar, four additional Lebanese prisoners, the bodies of 190 Hizbullah fighters and an intelligence report on four Iranian diplomats who went missing in 1982. In a later stage of the deal, Israel will also release a as of yet undetermined number of Palestinian prisoners.

However, the State contends, excluding Kuntar from the deal will likely result its complete collapse. Such a move would have massive diplomatic and defense-related ramifications.

The appeal was submitted by Shahar’s family in conjunction with the Almagor Terror Victims Association.

In its petition, the association challenges the governments decision to release living prisoners convicted of grievous offenses in return for the corpses of the captive soldiers.

“It is important that the public realize that a mass murderer is about to be released,” brother Yoram Shahar said at the courthouse in Jerusalem. “We are going to regret (releasing Kuntar). I’ll do everything in my power to stall the deal, and if possible have it annulled entirely.”

An aide to President Shimon Peres, who is expected to receive the official request to pardon Kuntar in the coming days, said the request would not be sanctioned until the deal progresses to point where it is sure to be fully implemented.

The Haran family remains divided on the matter. Danny’s widow Smadar, who also lost her two daughters, said she would not challenge the agreement. “The despicable, vile murderer Samir Kuntar isn’t, nor has he ever been, my private prisoner. Kuntar is a prisoner of the State,” she said, urging the State to ignore her private pain and do “what is in the country’s best interests.”

But Danny’s mother and brother have also vocally criticized the exchange.

Ronen and Yoram Shahar Photo: Gil Yohanan

Yoram and Ronen Shachar have joined the Almagor Terror Victims Association in a petition asking the High Court of Justice to stop the government from freeing Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar in the prisoner swap with Hizbullah.

Israeli intelligence officials estimate that the Israeli soldiers whose return Israel is demanding are dead. Much public criticism has been voiced over the surrender to Hizbullah in releasing live terrorists for what are apparently dead Prisoners of War (POWs).

The petition was filed in the Jerusalem courtroom on Monday morning, with the two brothers joined by Meir Indor of the Almagor group. Eliyahu Shachar, a police officer, was murdered by Kuntar during the 1979 terror attack he led on Nahariya.

Kuntar brutally killed Danny Haran and then crushed the skull of his 4-year-old daughter Eynat with his rifle butt. The little girl’s younger sister also suffocated to death as she hid with her mother in another part of the house.

“We will regret releasing Kuntar,” asserted Yoram Shachar. “I will do everything in my power to delay the deal, and if possible, even bring it to revocation.” The petitioners maintain that the exchange endangers future Israeli soldiers, as the terrorists will know that they can receive the same price for dead soldiers as for live ones, “so why should they bother keeping them alive?”

Shachar added in his interview with Voice of Israel government radio, “We are in a country surrounded by enemies, and we shouldn’t give in to terrorist groups.”

Government envoy Ofer Dekel is expected to return to Israel by Monday evening with the report from Hizbullah detailing its efforts to obtain information about the fate of Air Force navigator Ron Arad, whose aircraft was shot down over Lebanon in 1986.

Sources said the report indicates that Arad died two years after his capture by Amal terrorists, who then handed him over to Hizbullah. He was eventually “sold” to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, according to intelligence reports, after which the trail went cold.

The prisoner swap deal with Hizbullah will not be signed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert until after he has inspected the report on Arad, according to officials in Jerusalem.

The family of an Israeli police officer who was killed by Samir Kuntar filed an appeal Monday with the High Court of Justice against the release of the Lebanese terrorist within the framework of the prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hizbullah.

Eliyahu Shahar was killed by Kuntar along with Danny Haran and his 4-year-old daughter during a 1979 raid on the northern coastal town of Nahariya.

The appeal was submitted by Shahar’s family and the Almagor Terror Victims Association. “It is important that the public realize that a mass murderer is about to be released,” brother Yoram Shahar said at the courthouse in Jerusalem. “We are going to regret (releasing Kuntar). I’ll do everything in my power to stall the deal, and if possible have it annulled entirely.”

Eliyahu Shahar’s other brother, Haim, recently told Ynet “Samir Kuntar ruined my life; I lost my brother, and now he may be freed. I want the captive soldiers to return home, but I also want the terrorist to rot in jail.”

Shimon Peres’ office is expected to receive the official request to pardon Kuntar within the next few days, but an aide said the president won’t approve the request until “a certain stage” in the deal is reached to make certain the prisoner swap is implemented in full.

The president is expected to consult with the relevant officials, including negotiator Ofer Dekel, before reaching his decision.

Shahar brothers in court Photo: Gil Yohanan

The brother of policeman Eliyahu Shahar, who was murdered by terrorist Samir Kuntar, has petitioned the High Court of Justice Monday together with the Almagor Terror Victims Association, against Kuntar’s release as part of the prisoner swap deal with Hizbullah.

The bother, Yoram Shahar, said that “we will regret releasing Kuntar. I will do everything in my power to delay the deal. And if possible, even bring to its revocation.”