Bereaved Families Petition High Court Against Shalit Deal

Yair Altman; Aviad Glickman

Bereaved Families Petition High Court Against Shalit Deal

Terror victims, families aim to delay prisoner exchange claiming prisoner swap deal is ‘wholesale release of murderers’

Ynet

2011-10-14

Bereaved families filed a petition with the High Court of Justice on Friday, the first against the Gilad Shalit deal which will see 1,027 Palestinian prisoners being released in exchange for the Hamas-held soldier. They are claiming the deal is a “wholesale release of murderers” and have asked that the implementation of the exchange be delayed.

The families are seeking a delay in order to be given more time to organize a petition against their loved ones’ murderers being freed. It should be noted that the full list of prisoners set to be released in the deal is only expected to be published on Sunday – two days before the exchange is expected to go ahead.

The families have petitioned against the cabinet decision itself claiming it was “unreasonable and disproportionate” due to the “dramatic number of terrorists with blood on their hands being released, including arch-murderers sentenced to multiple life sentences for the murder of dozens of people.”


Some of the petitioners at High Court (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

The petitioners also claimed that “this release is like none before it – not even in the Jibril deal – due to the mental consequences on the victims and the security threat it creates for civilians and soldiers in the future.”

The petitioners are also claiming that the decision is one that includes moral and humane issues towards a family and a soldier who was kidnapped, and therefore it is an issue that deserves to be debated publically, all the more so as part of a legal hearing in the High court.

They added they were promised, at their loved ones’ gravesites that “Israel’s hand would find the murderers and carry out justice and here, they find that the other hand is releasing them under the threat of violence that gnaws at and undermines the foundations of justice, democracy and equality before law.”

The petition against the prime minister, defense minister and chief of staff was filed by the Almagor Terror Victims Association; Yitzhak Maoz, whose daughter was murdered in the 2001 Sbarro terror attack; Hovav Nuriel, son of abduction and murder victim Sasson Nuriel; the Bloom family, who were injured in a Molotov cocktail attack; Rabbi Shmuel Weiss, whose son was killed in a battle with terrorists; Ron Kerman who lost his daughter in a Haifa terror attack, and others.

Some 450 prisoners are set to be released in the first stage of the deal and the Justice Ministry has already begun to prepare for the handover, including providing the High Court with possible responses should petitions be filed against the deal.

Some of the bereaved families are claiming that the price being paid by Israel is too high.

Responding to public criticism, the Shin Bet noted that from the organization’s perspective it was the best deal they could get.


Protesting for release of prisoners in Bethlehem (Photo: EPA)

Among those set to be released are the man behind the 405 bus terror attack that claimed the lives of 16 people, the murderers of Nachshon Wachsman, the murderers of yeshiva student Haim Kerman, Amana Muna, who lured 16-year-old Ophir Nahum via Internet chats to his murder in Ramallah, and others.

Meir Indor, CEO of the Almagor Terror Victims Association, told Ynet: “There are a number of bereaved families who are categorically opposed to the deal. Some aren’t even aware of the fact that the terrorists who murdered their loved ones are going to be released.

“Usually they give you time to go over the names, yet not in this case. This deal outdoes all previous ones in the number of terrorists being released and the severity of their deeds.”

“The deal must be postponed otherwise the complaints will only be submitted after the terrorists are released.”

High Court Denies Petition to Cancel Videotape Deal

Aviad Glickman

High Court Denies Petition to Cancel Videotape Deal

Ynet

2009-10-01

Supreme Court President Dorit Beinish and Justices Miriam Naor and Ester Hayut denied the petition filed by the Almagor Terror Victims Organization demanding to overturn the decision to release 20 female Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a sign of life from captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

In their ruling, the justices wrote that the decision is of an unmistakable political nature which is subject to the government’s jurisdiction and consideration.

Petition to Freeze Release of Palestinians for Shalit Tape Denied

Aviad Glickman

Petition to Freeze Release of Palestinians for Shalit Tape Denied

Terror Victims Association asks High Court to stop scheduled release of female terrorists in exchange for sign of life from captive soldier, saying it is a ‘dangerous precedent,’ but court says decision subject to government’s consideration

Ynet

2009-10-01

A petition filed by the Almagor Terror Victims Association on Thursday demanding to annul the government’s agreement with Hamas, according to which Israel will release 20 female Palestinian security prisoners in exchange for a videotape allegedly proving captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit is alive and well, was denied.

Supreme Court President Dorit Beinish and Justices Miriam Naor and Ester Hayut said in their ruling that the decision to release the prisoners was subject to the government’s jurisdiction and consideration.

The exchange is scheduled to take place on Friday.

The petitioners asked that the court issue an interim injunction to freeze the process until it rules on the matter. Similar petitions have failed to prevent past prisoner exchange deals.

“The wholesale release of terrorists in exchange for a sign of life is tainted with extreme unreasonableness; a sign of life is a simple humane gesture that is common during times of war,” the petition read.

“The release of prisoners as part of diplomatic negotiations goes against the separation of powers principle,” it said, adding, “The government’s decision to release the prisoners constitutes a moral and legal deterioration, and it contradicts the values of the State of Israel.”

Yossi Zur, whose 17-year-old son Assaf was killed by a Hamas suicide bomber on a Haifa bus in 2003, was among those who signed the petition.

“The release of female terrorists in exchange for a sign of life is a dangerous precedent,” he told Ynet. “Until now, Israel would only return bodies (of terrorists) in exchange for information, but this time it is releasing terrorists who have been convicted.”

Amid rumors that two female terrorists may be released Thursday, thousands of Palestinians, including hundreds of Islamic Jihad members, arrived at the Erez crossing in north Gaza in anticipation of their return.

Gilad Shalit was kidnapped into Gaza on June 25, 2006.

Petition Against ‘Videotape Deal': Prisoner Release Unreasonable

Aviad Glickman

Petition Against ‘Videotape Deal': Prisoner Release Unreasonable

Ynet

2009-10-01

The Almagor Terror Victims organization submitted a petition to the High Court of Justice against Menachem Mazuz and the government of Israel demanding that it overturn the decision to release 20 female Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a sign of life from captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

According to the petitioners, “The wholesale release of terrorists in exchange for a sign of life is tainted with an extreme lack of reasonability.”