Meir Indor, Almagor Victims of Terror Association Photo: Courtesy Almagor

The Almagor Victims of Terror Association plans to launch an online database of the terrorists with descriptions of their crimes in an effort to prevent future prisoner swaps, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

The head of Almagor, Meir Indor, believes by connecting the names of the terrorists to the specific terror attacks they committed, the public will be less likely to support prisoner swaps in the future.

“We are taking the law into our own hands so that terror victims can get updates on the terrorists who are responsible for specific attacks,” said Indor.

The database, called “Justice for Terror Victims,” will collect information that is available to the public, such as arrests and court transcripts, and compile it in a searchable database.

The Foreign Ministry and some private bloggers have partial lists, but this is the first initiative to have a comprehensive center of information.

More than a dozen volunteers working around the clock in shifts of three have already compiled full entries for 270 terrorists released as part of the Gilad Schalit deal.

It will be uploaded later this week onto the organization’s website, al-magor.com.

The prisoner list released ahead of the Schalit swap by the Prisons Service had dry descriptions for each of those released such as “involvement in unknown terror organization” and “assisted in murder.”

Indor believes that more specific descriptions, such as “the driver who brought the suicide bomber to Sbarro,” will resonate with the public on a deeper level and encourage more of an outcry against future swaps, which was fairly muted in the Schalit deal.

“Personalization works,” said Indor, noting that one reason the Schalit campaign was so successful was that it created an image of Schalit the average Israeli could relate to as a son and a soldier.

He added that the database, which will start with the terrorists released as part of the Schalit swap, will be updated if there are future swaps or if a terrorist is rearrested for committing similar crimes.

Indor said there was an incident during the Schalit affair when the media, using unauthorized lists from Arab media, incorrectly reported the planned release of some terrorists, creating unneeded turmoil for the families of the victims. A centralized database could minimize such occurrences in the future.

“The worst is to sit and not know. Terror victims want to know if their murderer got out or not,” said Indor.

He acknowledged that funds were a serious obstacle for keeping an updated database, or for translating the database into English.

Part of Almagor’s strategy is to inspire public pressure both on the government not to release terrorists, as well as other governments to issue international arrest warrants through Interpol for released terrorists.

Almagor was founded in 1986 as a response to the “Jibril Deal,” when 1,150 terrorists were released in exchange for three soldiers kidnapped during the First Lebanon War.

Meir Indor, Head of the Almagor Terror Victims’ organization, criticized on Wednesday the deal Israel signed with Egypt to free Ilan Grapel.

Indor told Arutz Sheva that by agreeing to release 25 Egyptian prisoners in exchange for Grapel, Israel was setting a dangerous precedent and allowing future kidnappings.

“The Egyptian government, no matter how they try to paint it, kidnapped a citizen, accused him of spying and then got off that idea,” Indor said. “But they’re saying, ‘Before you get him back, you’ll pay us with security prisoners. That’s what we found out today, that half of those who are being released are security prisoners.”

“This is a bad sign for the future, because other countries are standing in line,” he added. “Turkey, Jordan…They’ll find reasons to arrest Israelis. By Israel surrendering in the Grapel affair, it is signaling that the kidnapping method pays off.”

Indor also said that it is time that the public understand that the Israeli government is not the one actually making decisions, but rather the general public and the media.

“The public must understand from this story what we, the elders, understood many years ago,” he said. “The decisions aren’t really made in the Knesset or by the government. That’s where the political people are. The decisions are in the hands of outside bodies, the public, and the media. If the public understands this, it won’t sit passively at home but will join a civil campaign. The civil campaign is what determines today security and military issues.”

Earlier on Wednesday, the High Court rejected motions against the Grapel deal. Grapel, who was arrested when he took part in the Tahrir Square uprising in Egypt, is expected to be freed Thursday.

Ilan Grapel, with MK Yisrael Hasson (R) and lawyer Yitzhak Molcho (L) in Egypt.

Israeli-American Ilan Grapel, who has been held in Egypt for over four months, is expected to be returned to Israel this evening as part of a deal that releases 25 Egyptian prisoners.

Most of the prisoners to be released are Sinai Bedouin jailed for smuggling drugs or weapons. None were killers; three are minors.

Three of the prisoners have already completed their sentences. Another five were due to be freed by the end of the year, one as early as next week.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s special envoy, Isaac Molho, and MK Yisrael Hasson (Kadima), who conducted the negotiations for Grapel, are to fly to Cairo today at 3:30 P.M., together with Grapel’s mother, who arrived in Israel yesterday. The three will pick up Grapel and within less than an hour fly back to Ben-Gurion Airport, where Grapel will be shepherded through the VIP lane.

The media will not be allowed to photograph Grapel’s arrival in Israel or speak to him; the only pictures to be distributed will be those taken by the Government Press Office.

Once Grapel is en route to Israel, the Egyptian prisoners will be freed at the Taba border crossing.

The 22 adult inmates were moved to a jail in the south yesterday to prepare them for their release, an Israel Prisons Service spokeswoman said. The minors will be moved today.

From the airport Grapel will be whisked off to the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, where he will have a short meeting with Netanyahu at about 6:30 that will also be closed to the press. It was not clear last night whether Grapel would then be allowed to hold a press conference.

The High Court of Justice yesterday rejected petitions against the prisoner swap. The petitioners, MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union ), the terror victims group Almagor, and the Israel is Ours group, argued that the decision to release the Egyptians was problematic legally, since it was made by the 14-member security cabinet and not by the full government.

They also said the deal was disproportionate and unreasonable, noting that Grapel went to Egypt of his own free will, and was not sent there by Israel.

Grapel, a student at Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia, was arrested in Egypt on June 12 and accused of spying for Israel. The charges were later downgraded to incitement.

Israeli citizens should start their own investigation of the Supreme Court, a frustrated Meir Indor of the Almagor organization for victims of terrorism said Wednesday. “The time has come for a ‘People’s Court’ that will look into the reason that the Supreme Court rejects every appeal by victims of terrorism against terrorists’ release, but intervenes incessantly when it comes to appeals filed by Palestinians,” he said.

The court has rejected several suits against terrorists’ release, arguing that the issue is one of national security and thus lies in the hands of the government. However, the court has intervened in several issues – such as the path of the Judea and Samaria security barrier or the questioning of suspected terrorists – which defense officials argued were also questions of national security.

Ilan Grapel Photo: Courtesy

Dual US-Israeli citizen Ilan Grapel is scheduled to fly from Cairo to Israel Thursday afternoon in exchange for 25 Egyptian prisoners, after the High Court of Justice refused two petitions against the deal late Wednesday evening.

The High Court debated the two petitions on Wednesday afternoon against the deal, but – as it did last week in the Gilad Schalit swap – denied them on the grounds that these types of exchanges are within the government’s purview. Grapel was arrested in Cairo on June 12 for allegedly spying for Israel, a charge later lowered to incitement.

The two Israelis who negotiated Grapel’s release with the Egyptians – Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s envoy Yitzhak Molcho and Kadima MK and former deputy Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) head Yisrael Hasson – are scheduled to fly Thursday afternoon to Cairo with Grapel’s mother to retrieve him.

Grapel is expected to land at Ben-Gurion Airport at about 5 p.m., and then drive to Jerusalem for a brief meeting with Netanyahu.

A spokesman for the Prisons Service said the Egyptian prisoners, who were gathered together at the Beersheba prison on Wednesday, will be taken to the Taba border crossing with Egypt most likely Thursday afternoon.

All of the Egyptian prisoners, according to information supplied by the Prisons Service, are serving time for criminal – rather than terrorist-related – offenses. The group of prisoners also includes three minors.

While Schalit was met upon his release in a government-organized ceremony at the Tel Nof Air Force Base – by his family, Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz – no official ceremony was planned for Grapel’s return.

One government source, explaining the difference in the reception, said Grapel was not a soldier, but rather a civilian unjustifiably accused of being a spy.

The official said it was not clear whether Grapel, who was born in the US, but immigrated to Israel and served in the Paratroopers Brigade, would remain here or return to the US. At the time of his arrest in June he was a law student at Emory University in Atlanta.

The first petition to the High Court against the deal on Wednesday was filed by MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) and far-right religious party Eretz Israel Shelanu (Our Land of Israel), and the second was filed by the Almagor Terror Victims Association.

A panel of three justices, Miriam Naor, Esther Hayut and Isaac Amit, heard the petitions.

Ben-Ari’s main argument was that the decision to release the prisoners was problematic because it was made by Netanyahu’s 14- man security cabinet, not by the government itself.

The National Union MK also dubbed the prisoner release agreement “disproportionate and unreasonable,” and said it differed from the Schalit deal because Grapel “went to Egypt of his own free will to participate in various activities of extremist movements.”

However, Naor pointed out in response that the reasons Grapel went to Egypt are unknown. In its response to the petition, the state said the 10 security prisoners included in the deal had been convicted mostly of weaponstrading offenses, and in one case of belonging to an illegal organization.

“None of the prisoners has been convicted of perpetrating acts of terror or acts to harm human life,” the state emphasized.

Another 11 prisoners had been mostly convicted of drug-trafficking offenses and the remaining four had served their prison sentences in full, the state noted.

However, in Wednesday’s court hearing Ben-Ari argued that drug trafficking was a serious offense and suggested that the state could have used other means to free Grapel, including funding a lawyer to represent him.

The petitioners also argued the state had not given the public enough time to respond to the prisoner releases.

However, Naor pointed out during the hearing that the list of prisoners and their full details had been published on the Prisons Service website on Tuesday, 48 hours before their scheduled release on Thursday.

The state had also emphasized that Israel’s relationship with Egypt was important, and the Grapel deal involved “political considerations regarding our relationship with Egypt.”

In the final ruling, the justices noted the state’s position that it was important to carry out the agreement between Israel and Egypt as scheduled, as any delay could prevent Grapel’s release.

“This court has debated the issue of time lines in the past, as we do not find that the time lines as set forth in this case justify our intervention,” the justices said in the ruling.

Israel’s Supreme Court (http://www.court.gov.il/)

The High Court rejected Wednesday evening motions against the deal with Egypt for freeing Israeli anarchist Ilan Grapel, who was arrested when he took part in the Tahrir Square uprising in Egypt. In return for Grapel, Israel will free 21 weapons and drug smugglers.

The court, which leans heavily to the political left, is expected to reject the motions, and Grapel is expected to be freed Thursday.

The motions were filed by the Our Land of Israel movement and the Almagor terror victims’ advocacy group, as well as MK Michael Ben Ari of the National Union.

They argued in part that the National Security Council is not qualified to make the decision to release convicted prisoners and that such a decision, which is made between two states, must be subject to the approval of the entire government.

MK Ben Ari told the court that half of the Egyptians being freed are weapons smugglers and therefore qualify as terrorists. He also asked why Bedouin Israel Auda Tarabin, who has been held in an Egyptian prison for 11 years on espionage charges, is not included in the deal. “If his name were not Auda Tarabin but Iddo Rabin, would he have received different treatment?”, asked Ben Ari.

Ben Ari told Arutz Sheva that in his view, a good deal would involve handing over Grapel to the United States, since he is also a US citizen, and receiving Jonathan Pollard. “We will release Grapel and give him to the Americans,” he said with a bitter smile. “To that deal, I agree.”

The Almagor Terror Victims Association has filed a petition to the High Court of Justice against the swap deal intended to release US-Israel citizen Ilan Grapel from a Cairo prison in exchange for 25 Egyptian inmates held in Israel.

This is the second petition filed on Wednesday against the deal.

Ten of the prisoners who are to be released in exchange for Ilan Grapel are terrorists, the Almagor organization for terror victims warned Tuesday. The prisoners, Egyptian citizens, were convicted of smuggling weapons to terrorist groups, Almagor said.

Egypt has demanded the prisoners’ freedom in exchange for freedom for Ilan Grapel, a young American-Israeli man arrested in Cairo and accused of spying. The exchange is to take place Thursday.

The terror victims’ organization Almagor has called on Israeli citizens to avoid visiting Arab or Muslim countries. Israelis who do so “could be kidnapped and falsely imprisoned as bargaining chips,” the group warned.

The warning follows the announcement that Israel will release 25 prisoners in exchange for Egypt’s release of Israeli-American citizen Ilan Grapel. Hostile countries “have learned from Hamas that kidnapping pays,” said Almagor.

Grapel, Hasson and Molcho Photo: Courtesy

MK Yisrael Hasson (Kadima) recalled on Tuesday his visit with New Yorker Ilan Grapel in the Egyptian prison where the Israeli-US has been kept on espionage charges since June 12.

Shortly before Egypt agreed on Monday to release Grapel, 27, Hasson, who was involved in the negotiations to free Grapel, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s special envoy Yitzhak Molcho, talked to Grapel.

“We met Grapel when it was clear to us that we were about to close the deal,” Hasson, formerly a senior Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) officer, explained. “It was a very emotional meeting, and he was not aware of the negotiations, even though they were revealed to the press.”

“When we started talking, Grapel didn’t know who we are, and answered us in Arabic. He said he was treated fairly and sensitively.”

Hasson also said Grapel’s parents had been allowed to visit him in prison, and that he told stories of his experiences in prison.

“I’ll leave him the privilege of giving the details to the press,” the MK quipped.

Hasson told reporters that once the cabinet approves the deal, in which 25 non-terrorist Egyptian prisoners are to be released from Israeli jails in exchange for Grapel, it will be implemented within two days.

“The Egyptians accused Grapel of espionage, but they did not indict him,” Hasson explained. “This made finding a solution easier, because getting a pardon after a trial is much more complicated – in Israel, too.

“If there won’t be complaints to the High Court, he will be home on Thursday,” the Kadima MK said.

“Egypt isn’t like Hamas. In my opinion, most people are not looking at this situation in the right way.

“The new government in Egypt traversed the potholes [in the negotiations process] and are worthy of our appreciation,” Hasson said.

MK Arye Eldad (National Union) slammed the prisoner exchange.

“Israel is becoming morally bankrupt,” he said. “After releasing murdering terrorists for a drug dealer [Elhanan Tannenbaum, who was arrested by Hezbollah in 2000], the state is releasing drug dealers in exchange for a professional anarchist who worked against the state at protests [against the West Bank security barrier] in Bil’in.”

“The state is emptying itself of any concept of law and justice. Maybe tomorrow the government will propose a wholesale release of foreign workers convicted of rape or murder in exchange for Israelis who dealt drugs in Japan or Thailand,” Eldad said.

Almagor Terror Victims Association is trying to delay the prisoner exchange, saying that half of the 25 Egyptian prisoners to be released in exchange for Grapel are, contrary to official claims, security prisoners.

Almagor said that half the prisoners had provided weapons to terrorists, while the other half were involved in smuggling drugs.

“The Israeli government is turning itself into a Mediterranean bazaar for its kidnapped citizens, making them a living commodity for terrorists and governments,” the group said.

Almagor called on Israelis to avoid traveling to Muslim countries, to avoid being kidnapped or arrested for political purposes.

“Israelis traveling in Turkey and Jordan may find themselves in a similar situation as Grapel, and consider these events as a travel warning,” the NGO said.

Reuven Rivlin (Flash 90)

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin is recommending that Israel not set into law its terms for negotiating with terrorists.

The MK said Sunday that subjecting such terms to a law would limit the government’s ability to negotiate with terrorists.

The government should be able to use its judgment in dealing with such issues, said Rivlin, who made his remarks following talks with President Shimon Peres.

The two men were meeting to discuss a report on options for dealing with terrorists during negotiations for captive soldiers and other Israelis.

The Almagor terror victims’ organization demanded last week that the government immediately publish the recommendations of the Shamgar Committee.

The committee, appointed to investigate a policy for dealing with potential soldier abductions, is expected to set stricter guidelines which will limit the government’s options during talks.

Chief government negotiator David Meidan and the team that was involved in the negotiations that last week freed kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit is expected to meet this week with members of the committee to offer their conclusions and recommendations.

Hundreds of terrorists with blood on their hands, who were serving multiple life sentences for murder, will have been freed at the conclusion of the prisoner swap deal, which will end with the release of 1,027 Palestinian Authority inmates from Israeli prisons. Last week, in the first phase of the prisoner exchange, 477 terrorists were freed, with more than 100 being sent to Gaza and dozens of others deported to Turkey, Qatar and Syria.

A day after a stabbing attack that severely injured 17-year-old Yehuda Ne’emad, residents of the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramot, where the incident took place, recalled a series of burglaries perpetrated by Palestinians from the village of Kfar Iksa, where the attacker is believed to have fled.

“They walk around the neighborhood uninterrupted,” said one of the residents.

Meir Indor, head of the Almagor Terror Victims Association, blamed the government for the incident, claiming that the release of prisoners as part of the Shalit swap deal led to the stabbing attack.

“The publicity surrounding the deal turned murderers into culture heroes on the Arab and Palestinian street. Their acts are being praised and their release is attributed to Hamas’ determination against Israel.

Security forces in search for suspect (Photo: Noam Moskovich)

“All this encourages Arab youths to try impersonating the released prisoners, because they know, just as we know, that if they are caught they will be released sooner or later,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ne’emad condition, which was initially considered serious, has improved. The youth underwent surgery in Hadassah Medical Center and he is now considered moderate yet stable condition.

“I never thought it would be dangerous to let my child go out on our street,” Ne’emad’s mother told Ynet on Saturday.

Free Access to Israel

In the upcoming weeks, the Defense Ministry is set to discuss the approval of a budget for a security fence between the village and Jerusalem. The construction is expected to begin in 2012.

Scene of stabbing attack (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

Police and army forces continued searching for the stabbing attack suspect late Saturday night. The forces arrived at Kfar Iksa, which is located west of Jerusalem in area B (under Palestinian civil control and Israeli security control), and searched the homes in the village, where the suspect is believed to be hiding.

A joint army and police operations center was set up on the outskirts of the village to coordinate the manhunt.

Defense establishment officials estimate that the terrorist exploited the fact that the security fence, which divides Israeli and Palestinian territories, does not extend to Kfar Iksa, which is located less than half a kilometer from Ramot. The attacker could have slipped in and out of the neighborhood unimpeded.

The village is in fact cut off from other villages in the north and the west by a temporary security fence that was built until a permanent one is erected instead.

A security official told Ynet that “so far, the Defense Ministry completed 525km out of the 670km security fence planned in the West Bank area. The construction of the fence in Kfar Iksa is part of our perennial work plan.”

Border Police forces [file] (Photo: Ammar Awad / Reuters)

Large IDF and Border Police forces were expected to continue searching Sunday morning in the town of Beit Iksa for a suspect in the stabbing of a Jewish youth in Jerusalem’s Ramot neighborhood Saturday, Army Radio reported.

A 17-year-old Jewish boy was stabbed by an Arab man in the capital’s Ramot neighborhood on Saturday afternoon.

The victim was sitting on the street with a friend when the attacker walked up, stabbed him and immediately fled, Jerusalem Deputy Police Spokeswoman Shlomit Bajshi said.

From the initial investigation, police believe the attacker had nationalist motives, though other directions are also being investigated.

Police, soldiers and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) personnel combed the area around Ramot in search of the suspect Saturday evening. The neighborhood is located in northwest Jerusalem, over the pre-1967 Green Line.

The victim was evacuated to Hadassah University Medical Center in Ein Kerem in serious condition. His condition later improved to satisfactory.

Politicians were quick to condemn the attack.

“This hateful attack is an example of the Palestinian culture of terror. We must find the terrorist and destroy his home,” MK Danny Danon (Likud) said. “After our generosity, the time has come for strong action.”

“We are witnessing a renewed wave of terrorism, as a result of our encouraging terrorists by freeing hundreds of murderers from prison,” MK Arye Eldad (National Union) said. “Only rehabilitating our deterrence against Hamas by killing its leadership in Gaza, including [Ahmed] Ja’bari, who held Gilad Schalit – only action and not just reaction to a major terrorist attack – will be able to keep back the expected wave of terrorism and save the lives of Jewish people.”

Activists who were opposed to last week’s prisoner swap for tank gunner Schalit blamed Saturday’s attack on the deal.

A total of 477 security prisoners were released last week, and some 550 are to be released in December under the agreement with Hamas.

“The Shin Bet needs to personally apologize to this family, because the connection is clear that when Arab youth see a massive release of terrorists, it encourages them to join terrorism,” said Meir Indor, the head of the Almagor Terror Victims Association who filed petitions against the prisoner swap with the High Court of Justice.

Indor said he expected the freeing of security prisoners to incite a wave of “light” terrorism, including the throwing of stones and fire bombs, and stabbings, before a return to terrorist attacks inspired and organized by the released men.

The security establishment has repeatedly said that intelligence information is good enough to thwart any increase in terrorism.

Indor said he would campaign for implementation of the death penalty for convicted terrorists and a renewal of the demolition of the homes of terrorists’ family as deterrents.

Almagor head Meir Indor (Yoni Kempinski)

Meir Indor, head of the Almagor Terror Victims’ Association, called on Israel Security Agency (ISA) Chief Yoram Cohen to apologize to the family of the teen who was stabbed by an Arab terrorist on Shabbat.

In a statement, Indor said that Israel’s deal with Hamas, which saw the release of 477 terrorists in exchange for Gilad Shalit, directly led to the stabbing.

“Knowing the family and their son who was stabbed, I call on the head of the ISA, who also knows the family well, to come to apologize to them after declaring a few days ago that he could handle the release of the terrorists,” Indor said.

“He should immediately destroy the terrorist’s home as if he killed someone,” he added.

The 17-year-old boy, Yehuda Ne’emad, was stabbed on Saturday afternoon while sitting on a bench with a friend in Jerusalem’s Ramot neighborhood. A neighborhood doctor and medics from Magen David Adom treated him at the scene before rushing him to Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center in the capital city.

Ne’emad was stabbed twice, in the stomach and back. He is currently sedated and is on a respirator, unable to breathe on his own.

“The young Arab who came to stab Yehuda did so knowing that he would be released a short time later in an exchange deal,” Indor said, referring to the Shalit deal. “This is part of a spontaneous wave of attempted stabbings, stone throwing and petrol bomb throwing, which started when the Shalit deal was made public.” There was another incident in Gush Etzion.

He added, “Young Arabs feel that the mechanisms of punishment were abolished with the massive release, and many are trying to liken themselves to those who were released and have become heroes who defeated Israel.”

Indor said that a huge propaganda campaign has hit Arab streets since the Shalit deal was implemented.

“There is a huge propaganda campaign which has not reached the Israeli public,” he said. “Stories about the terrorists who were released, interviews with them and their families and details of the murders are told on radio and television stations, in the written press and in mosques. All these things become recruiting mechanisms for young individuals to carry out attacks, even before the wave of organized terror attacks now threatening Israel.”

“Security officials must find ways to regain deterrence,” Indor concluded.

Following the attack, the IDF began a manhunt for the terrorist in the Palestinian Authority village of Beit Iksa. Late on Saturday night, a large force of IDF soldiers entered the village, which is in Area B – an area jointly administered by Israel and the PA.

Yoni Netanyahu (Flash 90)

Terror victims’ group Almagor demanded Thursday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak immediately publish the conclusions of the Shamgar Committee, which was appointed to set rules for cases in which soldiers and/or civilian citizens are abducted by the enemy.

Its conclusions have not yet been made public because the committee met after the Shalit abduction and did not want to influence activity that might have already begun to free him.

The group also announced plans for a new campaign calling for a return to the spirit of Yoni Netanyahu, brother of the prime minister. Yoni was commander of the Sayeret Matkal elite IDF commando unit and was killed in the raid that freed the hostages of an Air France flight forced to land in Entebbe, Uganda, in 1976. At the time, Israel refused the demands of the terrorists to free prisoners in exchange for the hostages.
The slogan will be “Let us return to the spirit of Yoni Netanyahu! – We will not let Bibi destroy the spirit his brother led.”

“We will not let Bibi [Netanyahu] and Barak continue to hide from the public the principles set by the Shamgar Committee even if they are contrary to the way they chose to act. Otherwise we will turn to the High Court,” warned Almagor chairman Meir Indor.
“There are already MKs who are in favor of turning the Committee’s recommendations into law,” he added.

Another of Almagor’s planned campaigns will demand a death sentence for terrorists.
Channel 2 TV reported over the holiday that the Shamgar Committee called for tough guidelines that would limit the freedom of governments to use their own judgment in future negotiations over abducted citizens.

The members of the committee are to meet next week with the officials who negotiated Glad Shalit’s release. They will question the negotiating team, which was led by David Meidan, and receive their recommendations and conclusions.

The Almagor umbrella group of terror-victim organizations demanded, Thursday evening, that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak immediately publish the recommendations of the Shamgar Committee, which was appointed to investigate a policy for dealing with potential soldier abductions. A statement by Almagor threatened to petition the Supreme Court if its demand is not met.

During the Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah holiday, Channel 2 television reported that members of the committee are expected to set stricter guidelines, which will limit the government’s discretion. According to the report, they will meet, next week, with David Medan and the team that was involved in negotiations to release soldier Gilad Shalit and ask for their conclusions and recommendations.

Meir Indor, Chairman of the Almagor Terrorist Victims Organization, advised Israel on Tuesday to begin preparing for the next war.

“As soon as the festivals are finished, Hamas will say to itself that it’s time for the next terror attack,” Indor said in a statement.

“After Israel proved today that its leadership cannot withstand the manipulations and pressures of Hamas, it’s just a matter of time until the next war is started by the other countries observing the Hamas victory and becoming jealous of it,” he added. “Meanwhile, Hamas has had a tremendous victory that is reflected in the mass receptions for the terrorists, coupled with renewed threats to Israel.”

Almagor head Meir Indor (Yoni Kempinski)

The Almagor Terror Victims’ Organization dismissed on Monday the letter sent by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to the families of terror victims.

In a response letter it sent, the organization told Netanyahu, “Your letter is a mockery to us.”

“The letter is not worth the paper on which it was written,” the organization added. “You promised you’d inform us about changes in the government’s position and call us for a meeting, and instead you send us a letter! You promised to hold a public debate and raise the issue in the Knesset and that didn’t happen. But you had time to meet with the Shalit family and tomorrow are you going to attend a reception for Shalit.”

Almagor, which assisted some of the relatives of victims of terrorist attacks in filing appeals to the Supreme Court against the deal, called Netanyahu not to participate in Shalit’s homecoming.

“We urge you to at least not hold a welcoming ceremony with the leaders of the state and senior military commanders. Gilad Shalit is a soldier and he is returning for a very heavy price,” the organization wrote.

“For many Israelis this is a second day of mourning and some see it as a day of submission,” the organization emphasized in its letter. “Forget the artificial victory festivals that you’re trying to create. There is no victory here, but a major disaster and a humiliating surrender. Don’t make it look pretty with official ceremonies and don’t take advantage of these ceremonies to pat us with words of sympathy.

“This is getting pathetic. We don’t want empathy but rather action. At least for reasons of consideration for the bereaved families, don’t attend the festival.”

Earlier on Monday, Netanyahu sent a letter to those who lost loved ones in terrorist attacks and now face the prospect of seeing their murderers go free in exchange for Gilad Shalit.

In his letter, Netanyahu wrote, “I understand and feel your pain … I faced many inner debates during the entire negotiation process to return the soldier Gilad Shalit from captivity, and you were in my thoughts the entire time.

“The decision regarding Gilad Shalit’s release was one of the hardest I have made. It was hard for me because it is hard for you,” he said.

“I hope you will find comfort in the fact that I and the entire people of Israel are at your side, and share your pain,” he continued. “Your loved ones are in our hearts forever.”

On Monday evening, the Supreme Court rejected all the petitions that had been filed against the exchange of 1,027 terrorists held by Israel in exchange for Shalit.

The judges wrote in their ruling that the decision on questions of security considerations regarding the released terrorists should be made by the Israeli government. They added that at this time “the fate of Gilad Shalit hangs in the balance and any changes to the deal also could endanger Gilad’s life.”

By rejecting the appeals, the court officially gave the green light to implement the exchange deal. The implementation is scheduled to begin on Tuesday morning.

Photo by Amos Biderman

The High Court of Justice rejected numerous petitions against the Gilad Shalit prisoner swap deal yesterday evening, removing the last legal obstacle before the release of the abducted soldier.

Israelis opposed to the deal petitioned the High Court yesterday to block the release of the Palestinians who would be freed in return. Immediately after the ruling, the prison service began making its final preparations for the release of the Palestinian prisoners.

Convoys of heavily guarded buses will leave the Ketziot and Sharon prisons early this morning with 477 security prisoners aboard; they are due to be released today. The Israel Defense Forces expects Hamas to transfer Shalit at around 6 A.M. to Egyptian officials, who will then take him out of the Gaza Strip and into Egypt through the Rafah crossing.

Once the IDF receives the news that Shalit has reached Egypt, the first two groups of Palestinian prisoners, mostly women, will be transferred via the Kerem Shalom crossing to Egypt and via the Beitunia crossing to the West Bank.

To prevent possible disruptions to the transfer of the Palestinian prisoners, the head of the Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Tal Russo, signed an order yesterday declaring the Kerem Shalom region and the Erez crossing a closed military zone. The IDF has reinforced the troops in the area with a battalion from the officers training course, partly in an attempt to prevent the media from photographing Shalit.

The Gaza region has been quiet for the past few days with no cases of rocket fire or other shooting from Gaza, which reflects attempts by Hamas to prevent other Palestinian groups from interfering in the exchange, said officers from the Southern Command.

After a short period in Egypt, the Egyptian army is due to hand Shalit over to the IDF at one of the crossings on the Egyptian-Israeli border, most likely at Kerem Shalom.

The first Israeli team to meet Shalit will include the IDF chief medical officer, Brig. Gen. Dr. Yitzhak Kreis, and a psychologist who specializes in post-trauma cases.

Shalit will be moved in a heavily guarded convoy to a nearby military base where he will undergo an initial medical examination and speak by telephone with his family for the first time in over five years. He will be given an IDF uniform to wear.

Meanwhile, the other prisoners will be transferred via the Kerem Shalom and Beitunia crossings. All the prisoners to be transferred to Gaza will pass first through Egypt and from there to the Rafah crossing. Forty prisoners to be deported to foreign countries will be taken to Cairo first, where they will be welcomed by Hamas officials. The released prisoners with Israeli citizenship or from East Jerusalem will be freed by the Israel Police and the prison service within Israel.

If the IDF’s expectations that Shalit is in good health prove to be true, he will be flown by helicopter to the Tel Nof air base. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz will meet him at Tel Nof and escort him to his first meeting with his family: his parents, brother, sister and grandparents.

Shalit will undergo more comprehensive medical tests at Tel Nof.

Netanyahu, Barak and Gantz will arrive at the press center set up outside the base and make a statement. The plan is for the air force to fly Shalit and his family by helicopter in the early afternoon to Tefen in the Galilee, and from there a convoy will take them to their home in Mitzpeh Hila.

The IDF Central Command is not only taking precautions to protect the prisoners being transferred to the West Bank, the command is also on alert for possible “price tag” attacks by settlers and others who oppose the Shalit deal and the release of the terrorists.

Four petitions were submitted to the High Court of Justice against the prisoner exchange agreement, filed by the Almagor Terror Victims Association and relatives of Israelis killed in Palestinian attacks.

Similar to appeals in prisoner exchange deals in the past, the court declined to intervene in what it considered a political and security matter. The High Court’s written ruling said the place for such decisions was in the cabinet and not in court.

Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch wrote: “The decision on the questions raised in the case before, which combines security considerations, moral considerations and ethical considerations, is given in principle to the executive branch: the elected government. Now, maybe even more than in the past, it is clear that the fate of Gilad Shalit is hanging [in the balance] and any change in the agreement could prevent the agreement from being implemented and could even endanger Gilad’s life.” She wrote that the court did not have the authority to intervene under such circumstances.

During the hearing, Shvuel Schijveschuurder, a 27-year-old from Givat Shmuel who lost his parents and three of his siblings in the 2001 terror attack at the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem, shouted at Gilad Shalit’s father Noam. Schijveschuurder – who last week vandalized Yitzhak Rabin’s Tel Aviv memorial in protest of the Shalit deal – shouted: “Hang a black flag over your home in Mitzpeh Hila, this is a day of mourning.”

Bereaved family members disrupted the court session many times, yelling out their objections. Speaking after the court hearing, Schijveschuurder was beside himself with emotion, shouting outside the courtroom: “If the government can’t carry out a ‘price tag’ I’ll carry it out myself.”

“We will not let the terrorists leave Israel’s borders. If the court can’t carry out a ‘price tag’ then I have the justification and the authority to seek that price tag, even from The Hague,” Schijveschuurder said.

Speaking after the court session, Noam Shalit said that his family’s hearts were “with the bereaved families today. We are also a bereaved family and we know that there are bereaved families who support the deal.

“It’s a tough deal. We would have been happy if Gilad had been freed in another way, but unfortunately the State of Israel has not been able to create the kind of pressure that would bring about his release,” he added.

“I regret the fact that the bereaved families were not with us when we were trying to pressure the Israeli government and Hamas, and to stop the trucks of money and goods [making their way into Gaza],” Shalit said.

“Not implementing the deal will not return the murdered loved ones and would sentence Gilad to death,” he said.

“Any delay, any displacement of a single detail in the deal could seal his fate.”

Before yesterday’s court session, Netanyahu sent a letter to hundreds of families of terror victims. Netanyahu expressed understanding and empathy for the families, but said he is “faced with the responsibility of the prime minister of Israel to bring home every soldier who is sent to protect our citizens.”

Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch (Photo: Dudi Vaknin / Pool)

The High Court ruled late Monday night not to accede to requests by terror victims to interfere in the government’s agreement to release Palestinian security prisoners in return for kidnapped soldier Gilad Schalit.

Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch, Justice Hanan Melcer and Justice Eliezer Rivlin said in their judgment that they had considered acceding to petitioners’ requests to delay the prisoners’ release, but decided not to do so after the state explained that the timeline for the scheduled releases was critical to the agreement with Hamas.

“Now, perhaps more than ever, it is clear that Gilad Schalit’s fate depends on these hours and any change to the agreement may prevent it from being carried out and could even endanger Gilad’s life,” wrote Beinisch.

The petitioners, almost all of them family members of those killed in terror attacks, opposed the release of 1,027 Palestinian security prisoners, 477 of whom are due to be released on Monday.

In the hearing, just hours before Gilad is scheduled to be released, the Schalit family’s lawyer begged Supreme Court President Beinisch, Justice Eliezer Rivlin and Justice Hanan Melcer not to accede to petitioners’ demands to delay the prisoner releases.

Any delay to the deal with Hamas could put Gilad Schalit’s life in jeopardy, warned attorney Gilad Sher.

“Gilad must be allowed to live the rest of his life with his family, starting tomorrow,” said Sher. “The family is terrified, they are trembling, they are scared that a change will be made.”

In the courtroom, emotions ran high even before Monday’s hearing began.

Shvuel Schijveschuurder, who lost his parents and three brothers in the 2001 Sbarro terror attack, shouted at Gilad’s father Noam as he took his seat on the front row of the public gallery.

“Come on, look us in the eyes! You should put a black flag over the Israeli flag you’re flying at home,” yelled Schijveschuurder.

Noam Schalit did not respond, and remained composed, though notably tense, throughout the almost four hours of the hearing. Gilad’s father listened intently as each petitioner addressed the court, and occasionally passed notes to his attorney.

The panel of justices heard four petitions, three filed by terror victims and one by Ronit Tamari, a Jerusalem resident who said she had witnessed terror attacks.

Terror victims group Almagor filed the first petition, and included Hovav Nuriel, whose father, Sasson Nuriel, was murdered by a Hamas cell in 2005.

The names of four members of that cell – its leader Yasser Muhammed Saleh, Ali Mohammed Ali Qadhi, Abdullah Nasser Arrar, and Said Ibrahim Shalalda – are all scheduled to be released as part of the first stage of the Schalit deal.

The second petition was filed by members of the Schijveschuurder family, who lost five family members in the Sbarro bombing. Hamas terrorist Ahmam Tamimi, the driver of the suicide bomber responsible for the attack, is one of the prisoners scheduled for release.

A third petition was filed by attorney Zeev Dasberg of the Legal Institute for Terror Research. Dasberg’s sister Efrat Ungar and her husband Yaron were murdered in 1996 when Hamas terrorists fired a machine gun on their car near Beit Shemesh. The Ungars’ baby son, Yishai, was injured in the attack.

One of the convicted terrorists, Abed al-Rahman Ganimat, is named on the list of prisoners to be released in the first stage of the Schalit deal.

Also present in the courtroom were several other terror victims and bereaved family members of those killed in terrorist attacks.

Several of those terror victims stood up in court to make their presence known as Meir Indor, CEO of Almagor, gave the first speech of the hearing.

“Hamas has not only kidnapped Gilad,” Indor announced. “They have also kidnapped his family, the people and our society all together. And that is exactly what terrorism is supposed to do – sow fear and destroy the foundations of the country and its justice system.”

Indor slammed the state for allowing bereaved families only 48 hours to submit their objections to the prisoner releases, and argued that this was a violation of the Victims of Crime Law.

During the hearing, Indor also revealed that he had spoken with former Mossad chief Meir Dagan on Sunday, who had told him he had been against the Schalit deal.

“I asked [Dagan] if the deal had changed for the better and he said it had changed for the worse,” Indor said. “I asked if he had opposed this deal and he said yes, he had opposed it.”

Dagan had said the deal accepted by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu last week is worse from Israel’s perspectives than previous prisoner-exchange drafts rejected by former prime minister Ehud Olmert.

Justice Melcer raised the question of why the current heads of the Mossad and Shabak supported the deal, when their predecessors had been so very opposed to it.

Attorney Osnat Mandel, for the state, explained that there had been changes made to the deal itself.

Current Shabak head Yoram Cohen, Mossad head Tamir Pardo, and IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz had all given their support for the final deal, Mandel said.

Petitioner attorney Meir Schijveschuurder, who represented both himself and his family, also opened his address to the court by criticizing the state for failing to inform victims’ families that those convicted of murdering their relatives would be released.

According to the Victims of Crime Law, Schijveschuurder said that victims are supposed to be informed before the president pardons convicted murderers and not after.

“Hamas published the list on Friday and it was freely available,” he said. “But the state said people had to wait.”

To jeers and shouts from the public gallery, state attorney Osnat Mandel said the state had given information to several victims’ families who had turned to the Justice Ministry for information prior to the prisoner list’s publication.

Mandel also argued that the Victims of Crime Law does not apply to crimes committed in Judea and Samaria.

In their petition, the Schijveschuurder family asks the court to order the state to set clear standards for the release of security prisoners.

Schijveschuurder noted that some of the prisoners will be released for the third time, and criticized the government for what he said was setting Noam Schalit’s personal interests against those of the general public.

“[The state] cannot value a soldier’s blood above that of its citizens,” he said.

Schijveschuurder also sharply criticized the government’s decision to deport certain of the released prisoners abroad, which he said would put the lives of Jews in other countries at risk.

“We are sending my parents’ murderer abroad to do hasbara [public diplomacy],” said Schijveschuurder. “This is a terrible mistake. I can’t cope with the idea of even one terror attack being carried out abroad by these murderers.”

Schijveschuurder called on the state should explain that decision.

“How did you decide to send them abroad?” he asked the state attorneys present in the hearing. “Was that a security decision? Are you saying that England can deal with these terrorists? Because if the state is saying it is sending them abroad because Israel cannot deal with them, then they should remain in prison.”

However State Attorney Osnat Mandel said that the prisoners’ deportation was included in the deal for security reasons.

Mandel also emphasized that the decision to release the prisoners was a political decision made by the government.

“The court’s role is to examine the legality of that decision, and not anything else,” noted Mandel.

According to Mandel, 26 government ministers had agreed to the Schalit deal after hearing opinions of security professionals. The deal had been made in order to release Gilad Schalit while minimizing the risk to state security, she added.

Mandel also quoted a court ruling by Beinisch in 2009, in which the Supreme Court President had said that the court does not interfere in government decisions regarding state security.

The state also argued that most of the claims raised in the petitions had already been rejected in previous High Court petitions over prisoner releases.

The Schalit family’s attorney Gilad Sher also gave his response to the petition, sharply refuting petitioners’ claims that Noam Schalit had been involved in the deal-making process.

According to Sher, the decision to release the prisoners had been the “fruit of many years’ hard work” and warned that any delay to the sensitive timetable set out in deal could put Gilad Schalit’s life in danger.

Supreme Court President Beinisch turned to state attorney Mandel to ask whether the timetable set out for the prisoner release deal was indeed so critical.

“The timetable is part of the agreement, and it is critical,” Mandel replied.

In their address to the court, petitioners attorney Zeev Dasberg argued that the President has no authority to grant pardons without first giving the injured parties an opportunity to oppose the pardon.

Dasberg was accompanied by legal expert Professor Gideon Sapir, who argued that releasing the prisoners violates international norms on punishment for terrorists.

However, state attorney Mandel countered by saying that Gilad Schalit’s captivity also violates international law, including because he has been denied visitors for over five years.

Towards the end of the hearing, the justices allowed several people named on the petitions to speak to the court.

Yossi Mendelovich, whose son Yuval was killed in March 2003, said that the court was his last hope.

“When the court put the terrorist who murdered my son in prison he said, ‘don’t worry, when I get out of jail I’ll come find you and kill you too’,” said Mendelovich. “And now he’s going to be released.”

Hovav Nuriel, whose father’s killers are also scheduled to be released, said the prisoner releases gave the Palestinian people the message that terrorism works.

“The murderers are going home,” he said. “The men who kidnapped, bound and beat my father and then stabbed him to death – they are on their way home. It just proves that terror works.”

During the hearing, Court President Beinisch noted as problematic the situation in which those terrorists who murdered Israelis are aware they will be released from prison in just a few years.

“The price is the cancellation of legal rulings that determined these people are in prison,” Beinisch said. “There is no need to explain to us the history of this painful and very difficult dilemma.”

Beinisch also said she thought the government is aware that terror victims’ families are opposed to the deal.

“The difficulty, the pain and the injury is clear,” Beinisch said

In a move that petitioners later said was significant, at the end of the hearing, Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch prevented Schalit from addressing the court.

As Schalit walked out of the courtroom, representatives of the bereaved families called “shame” after him.

Shvuel Schijveschuurder, who had remained silent throughout the hearing following his initial outburst, lost his temper and shouted in rage outside the courtroom.

“I’ll carry out my own price tag on all of you,” shouted the 27-year-old Schijveschuurder, referring to the fact that he is suspected of spray-painting the words “price tag” on a memorial to Yitzhak Rabin in Tel Aviv after the Schalit deal was first announced.

His brother Meir Schijveschuurder also called out after Noam Schalit, accusing him of courting media attention. “He’s afraid to look us in the eyes,” he said.

Noam Schalit, whom justices refused permission to speak in the courtroom, told reporters that he felt the bereaved families’ pain and admitted that the deal was difficult.

“Our hearts are with the bereaved families. We understand their pain. I regret that they weren’t with us for most of this time, during which we tried to put pressure on Hamas,” Schalit said. “The government of Israel failed for five years to release Gilad, two governments changed, chiefs of staff, Shin Bet chiefs, and they could not come up with any other alternatives.”

IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, captured by Hamas in 2006. (Photo by Archive)

The High Court of Justice rejected numerous petitions against the execution of the Gilad Shalit prisoner swap deal on Monday, effectively removing the last legal obstacle en route to the release of the abducted Israel Defense Forces solder.

Earlier Monday, Israelis opposed to the Shalit prisoner exchange deal asked the High Court to block the release of the jailed Palestinians in return for the captive soldier.

Four petitions were submitted to the court, filed by the Almagor Terror Victims Association and relatives of Israelis killed in Palestinian attacks. Judging from similar appeals in prisoner exchange deals in the past, however, the court is unlikely to intervene in what it considers a political and security issue.

In her verdict rejecting those petitions later Monday, Supreme Court President Dorit Beinish wrote that Monday’s High Court session was “one of the most loaded and unnerving debates to come before this court.”

“Undoubtedly, the government’s decision will send many terrorists who will be set free without serving their full sentence,” Beinish wrote, adding that most of those to be released were “vile murderers, whose hands are stained with blood of hundreds of victims, innocent civilians, women and children, old and young, that stumbled upon bombing scenes during the years in which Israel struggled against ferocious terror.”

However, the Supreme Court chief said, the “resolution of the issues raised in the case before us, one which involves security considerations, as well as moral and ethical matters, is in the hands of the elected government.”

“Now, perhaps more than ever, it is clear that these hours hold Gilad Shalit’s fate in the balance, and that any change in the agreement may thwart the execution of the deal and even risk Gilad’s life,” Beinish wrote, adding that under those circumstances the court found “that it was not for us to interfere with the government’s decision, which is why the petitions are rejected.”

During the hearing, Shvuel Schijveschuurder, a 27-year-old from Givat Shmuel who lost his parents and three of his siblings in the 2001 terror attack at the “Sbarro” restaurant in Jerusalem, yelled at Gilad Shalit’s father Noam, who came as to court as a defender.

Schijveschuurder – who last week vandalized Yitzhak Rabin’s Tel Aviv memorial in protest of the Shalit deal – shouted: “Hang a black flag over your home in Mitzpe Hila, this is a day of mourning.”

Bereaved family members disrupted the court session on numerous occasions, yelling out their objections to the deal, which is expected to get underway Tuesday morning.

Speaking following the court hearing, Schijveschuurder was beside himself with emotion, calling outside the courtroom: “If the government can’t carry out a ‘price tag’ I’ll carry it out myself.”

“We will not let the terrorists leave Israel’s borders. If the court can’t carry out a ‘price tag’ then I have the justification and the authority to seek that price tag, even from The Hague,” Schijveschuurder said.

Speaking after the court session, Noam Shalit said that his family’s hearts were “with the bereaved families today. We are also a bereaved family and we know that there are bereaved families who support the deal.”

“It’s a tough deal. We would have been happy if Gilad had been freed in other way, but unfortunately the State of Israel has not been able to create the kind of pressure that would bring about his release,” he added.

“I regret the fact that the bereaved families were not with us when we were trying to pressure the Israeli government and Hamas, and top stop the trucks of money and goods [making their way into Gaza],” Gilad’s father said, adding: “Not implementing the deal will not return the murdered loved ones, and, on the other hand, would sentence Gilad to death.

“Any delay, any displacement of a single detail in the deal, could seal his fate,” Shalit said.

Prior to Monday’s court hearing, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a letter to hundreds of families of terror victims.

In his letter, Netanyahu expressed understanding and empathy for the families, but stated that he is “faced with the responsibility of the Prime Minister of Israel to bring home every soldier who is sent to protect our citizens.”

Former Mossad Chief Meir Dagan deemed the Shalit prisoner exchange a “grave mistake,” saying its outline is “worse than the deal turned down by the Olmert’s government,” Ynet learned on Monday.

Dagan’s statements were made during a conversation with Meir Indor, head of the Almagor Terror Victims Association. The Almagor Association was one of the petitioners against the prisoner swap.

Dagan had told Indor that both he and former Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin opposed a very similar deal offered by Hamas in 2009. In a speech made at a Tel Aviv University conference in June, Dagan said that while he supported reaching a deal that would ensure the Gilad Shalit’s safe return, “I oppose the current outline, which demands the release of 450 of the worst murderers the IDF even went after. What blood-price would we have to pay for this release?”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to give a special speech on Tuesday, once the prisoner exchange is completed.

“We are different in the fact that we do not celebrate the release of murderers,” Netanyahu will say. “We are blessed with Gilad’s return to his free country.”

The Israel Prison Service held a situation assessment on Monday ahead of the prisoner exchange, which has been dubbed Operation Beit Hashoeva.

The IPS Nachshon Prisoner Transports Unit will oversee the transport of the 477 Palestinian prisoners slated to be released as part of the first stage of the deal. The transport is expected to be done under heavy guard.

Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan said during a conversation with Meir Indor, the head of the Almagor Terror Victims Association, that the Shalit prisoner swap deal, signed last week by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is worse than the deal rejected by the Olmert’s government.

Shimon Peres meeting representatives of the Terror Victims Association, Oct. 17, 2011. (Photo by GPO)

In a Monday meeting with bereaved families, President Shimon Peres said he understood the pain of family members over the sight of Palestinian terrorists released as part of the Gilad Shalit swap deal, adding, however, that it was his duty to save even one life.

Peres’ remarks came amid a campaign led by family members of those killed in terror attacks against the Israel-Hamas prisoner exchange, with some bereaved families saying that the price Israel was forced to pay for the freedom of the abducted Israeli soldier was too high.

Emotions ran especially high earlier Monday, when the High Court of Justice discussed four different petitions against the Shalit deal, some of which were submitted by bereaved families.

Speaking in a meeting with representatives of the Terror Victims Association (TVA), Peres empathized with those who lost family members in terror attacks, adding, however, that “the State of Israel stands before a difficult decision.”

“All of our hearts are torn in two, but we must make a decision,” the president said, adding that he was “well aware of the bereaved families’ pain. I know there isn’t one person who could make up for the loss, and no one person who could heal the wound that will never close.”

The TVA representatives told Peres that some of them supported the deal, with others opposing the agreement.

However, all those attending the meeting spoke of the “pain we felt when we first found out from the media that our children’s’ murderers were being set free,” adding that they expected to “be treated with more sensitivity” by being notified in advance of the deal.

In response, Peres said that, countering their personal pain is the fate of Gilad Shalit, “who has spent five years in the captivity of a ruthless and brutal terror organization.”

“The government made a tough decision, there wasn’t one minister who wasn’t torn inside,” adding that the success of the deal required absolute secrecy.

“The decision was made and it is my duty to respect,” Peres said, adding that “saving the life of one Israeli boy is a moral and ethical consideration.”

“The State of Israel is holding you in this difficult moment, you who paid the dearest price of all for losing your loved ones, and are paying still,” the president added.

High Court of Justice (Israeli Government Photo)

Israel’s High Court of Justice is expected to issue a ruling on petitions filed by families of terror victims against the exchange of 1,027 security prisoners held by Israel in exchange for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.

The court heard arguments pertaining to the petitions on Monday afternoon.

In addition to the petitions filed by bereaved families, a petition from the Almagor organization for Terror Victims requested the court delay the deal arguing the break-neck pace it is being executed at has not allowed many of the families of terror victims to review the list of those to be released and formulate a response.

The first group of 477 prisoners, whose names were published Sunday, are scheduled to be released on Tuesday. At that time, Hamas is slated to transfer Gilad Shalit, who they have held captive for over five years, to Israeli officials.

State attorneys argued the Shalit deal brokered by the Netanyahu government was strictly a political decision and had no bearing on the legal system.

“The court has refused, time after time, to interfere with the release of prisoners as part of a deal reached through political negotiations,” the state said.

“The decision was made after authorized professionals made a detailed examination of the request during negotiations.

Gilad Shalit’s parents, Noam and Aviva, also submitted a brief to the court.

“We sympathize with the pain of the families of the terror victims, but ask that the court not make any change, however small, to the deal made by the government,” Schalit’s parents wrote. “Any delay, however small, will put Gilad’s life in danger.”

During the hearing Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch said the deal brokered by the Netanyahu government meant “the cancellation of legal decisions which established that these people should be behind bars.”

“The moral and legal difficulty is laid out before us … we are sitting among our own people. There is no need to explain the painful history and the very difficult dilemmas we face,” Beinisch added.

Observers say it is highly unlikely the court will interfere with the terrorists-for-Shalit deal, which they will likely define as a diplomatic –security matter beyond their purview.

They also note mechanism of a presidential pardon to secure the prisoners’ release is, effectively, an extrajudicial mechanism.

Avihai Rontzki, April 10, 2011. (Photo by Moti Milrod)

The Israel Defense Forces’ former chief Rabbi criticized a prisoner swap deal that is due to set abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit free, saying on Monday that Israeli soldiers should from now on “kill terrorists in their beds.”

Public debate over the Shalit swap deal has been raging in Israel ever since the Israel-Hamas agreement was revealed, with the expected release of hundreds of Palestinian terrorists who are responsible for numerous attacks on Israeli citizens.

Referring to the deal, due to take place on Tuesday, former Chief Military Rabbi Avihai Rontzki said in an interview to Arutz Sheva that IDF soldiers should no longer arrest terror suspects, instead urging them to “kill them in their beds.”

“A lot of cases shouldn’t even reach court,” Rontzki said, saying that the army should instead rely on the “wisdom of commanders and fighters.”

“When you arrive to arrest terrorists like the murderers of the Fogel family, they should just be shot, exterminated. They were terrorists that murdered people and should be killed in their beds,” the former chief IDF rabbi said.

Rontzki also referred to the possibility that family members of those killed in attacks would wish to avenge those who were released in the Shalit deal, saying: “I’m not calling for vengeance or anarchy. But it can happen.”

“Any normal country would…destroy those who seek to hurt it. The murderer who perpetrated the [2000] lynch in Ramallah, it’s inconceivable, it would bring disgust to any normal person,” Rontzki said, referring to the expected release of two Palestinians involved in the mob attack on two IDF reservists in the West Bank city.

“A country that would allow something like that needs to realize that people will rise up and do something. It’s understandable,” he added.

The former chief military rabbi also said the Shalit deal would provide a significant boost to Hamas, saying: “Terrorists don’t have tanks. Their strength comes from their fighting spirit, and Hamas got several divisions of fighters and fighting spirit today.”

Rontzki’s comments to Arutz Sheva came after a High Court session earlier Monday, which assembled to discuss petitions by bereaved families against the Shalit swap deal.

Four petitions were submitted to the court, filed by the Almagor Terror Victims Association and relatives of Israelis killed in Palestinian attacks. Judging from similar appeals in prisoner exchange deals in the past, however, the court is unlikely to intervene in what it considers a political and security issue.

During the hearing, Shvuel Schijveschuurder, a 27-year-old from Givat Shmuel who lost his parents and three of his siblings in the 2001 terror attack at the “Sbarro” restaurant in Jerusalem, yelled at Gilad Shalit’s father Noam, who came to court as a defender.

Schijveschuurder – who last week vandalized Yitzhak Rabin’s Tel Aviv memorial in protest of the Shalit deal – shouted: “Hang a black flag over your home in Mitzpe Hila, this is a day of mourning.”

High Court (Photo by Archive)

A High Court of Justice hearing on Monday heard petitions against the Gilad Shalit prisoner swap deal, and is set to rule later in the day on the last legal obstacle for an agreement that will see the IDF soldier freed in return for the release of more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Earlier Monday, Israelis opposed to the Shalit prisoner exchange deal asked the High Court to block the release of the jailed Palestinians in return for the captive soldier.

Members of the Schijveschuurder family, who lost their parents and three siblings in a 2001 terror attack, attend a Jerusalem court hearing against the Shalit swap, October 17, 2011. (Gil Cohen Magen)

Four petitions were submitted to the court, filed by the Almagor Terror Victims Association and relatives of Israelis killed in Palestinian attacks. Judging from similar appeals in prisoner exchange deals in the past, however, the court is unlikely to intervene in what it considers a political and security issue.

During the hearing, Shvuel Schijveschuurder, a 27-year-old from Givat Shmuel who lost his parents and three of his siblings in the 2001 terror attack at the “Sbarro” restaurant in Jerusalem, yelled at Gilad Shalit’s father Noam, who came as to court as a defender.

Schijveschuurder – who last week vandalized Yitzhak Rabin’s Tel Aviv memorial in protest of the Shalit deal – shouted: “Hang a black flag over your home in Mitzpe Hila, this is a day of mourning.”

Bereaved family members disrupted the court session on numerous occasions, yelling out their objections to the deal, which is expected to get underway Tuesday morning.

Speaking following the court hearing, Schijveschuurder was beside himself with emotion, calling outside the courtroom: “If the government can’t carry out a ‘price tag’ I’ll carry it out myself.”

“We will not let the terrorists leave Israel’s borders. If the court can’t carry out a ‘price tag’ then I have the justification and the authority to seek that price tag, even from The Hague,” Schijveschuurder said.

Speaking after the court session, Noam Shalit said that his family’s hearts were “with the bereaved families today. We are also a bereaved family and we know that there are bereaved families who support the deal.”

“It’s a tough deal. We would have been happy if Gilad had been freed in other way, but unfortunately the State of Israel has not been able to create the kind of pressure that would bring about his release,” he added.

“I regret the fact that the bereaved families were not with us when we were trying to pressure the Israeli government and Hamas, and top stop the trucks of money and goods [making their way into Gaza],” Gilad’s father said, adding: “Not implementing the deal will not return the murdered loved ones, and, on the other hand, would sentence Gilad to death.

“Any delay, any displacement of a single detail in the deal, could seal his fate,” Shalit said.

Prior to Monday’s court hearing, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a letter to hundreds of families of terror victims.

In his letter, Netanyahu expressed understanding and empathy for the families, but stated that he is “faced with the responsibility of the Prime Minister of Israel to bring home every soldier who is sent to protect our citizens.”

Meir Indor, head of the Almagor Terror Victims Association, said at a High Court hearing, “Hamas kidnapped not only Gilad but the family members. Through him it kidnapped the entire Israeli society. We are here in court at the end of five years of pressure. This is what terror does.”

He added, “We are a civilian front whose job it is to protect Jewish blood.”

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Photo: Marc Israel Sellem)

On the eve of Tuesday’s swap for kidnapped soldier Gilad Schalit, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reached out to the families of terror victims, many of whom will watch in horror as the murderers of their loved ones are set free.

“I write to you with a heavy heart,” Netanyahu said in an open letter to the families of terror victims. “I understand and know your pain.”

Writing that he lost his brother in an operation to free hostages, Netanyahu said, “I know that you have a heavy heart, that your wounds have been opened anew these past days; that your thoughts are not at ease.”

Netanyahu said the families “were in my thoughts” during the painful decision-making process and negotiations for Schalit’s return.

“The decision regarding the release of Gilad Schalit was among the most difficult I have made,” he wrote. “It is difficult for me for the same reasons it is difficult for you.”

He said the consideration that guided him in striking the deal was the responsibility of the Israeli prime minister to “bring home every soldier who is sent to protect our citizens.”

“When I went to fight in the name of the State of Israel, I also always knew that Israel does not abandon its soldiers or citizens,” Netanyahu said.

He said that against the strong desire to bring back home a captive soldier, he also took into consideration the need to reduce the heavy price Israel would have to pay to win Schalit’s release.

“I know the price is especially heavy for you. I understand the difficulty to countenance that the evil people who perpetrated the appalling crimes against your loved ones will not pay the full price that they deserve,” he wrote. “During these moments, I hope you will find solace that I, and the entire nation of Israel, embrace you and share in your pain.”

The Almagor Terror Victims Association issued a scathing response to Netanyahu’s letter, saying the words were empty and not worth the paper they were written on.

“Mr. Prime Minister, you promised us that you would meet us and inform us before there was a deal,” the response read. “You promised a public debate, you promised this would be brought to the Knesset.”

None of that took place.

The organization called on Netanyahu not to participate in what it called Tuesday’s “carnival.”

“This is no national celebration, it is a tragedy,” the response read. “This is surrender, at least think about the bereaved families and the injured who are sitting at home, hurting.”

Noam Shalit attends High Court appeals in Jerusalem against a prisoner swap with Hamas to secure his son Gilad’s release, October 17, 2011. (Photo by Michal Fattal)

Israelis opposed to a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas asked the High Court on Monday to block the release of hundreds of jailed Palestinians in return for captive Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit.

The High Court convened at 12 P.M. to consider four petitions filed by the Almagor Terror Victims Association and relatives of Israelis killed in Palestinian attacks. Judging from similar appeals in prisoner exchange deals in the past, the court is unlikely to intervene in what it considers a political and security issue.

Shvuel Schijveschuurder, a 27-year-old from Givat Shmuel who lost his parents and three of his siblings in the 2001 terror attack at the Jerusalem “Sbarro” restaurant, yelled at Gilad Shalit’s father Noam, who came as to court as a defender.

Schijveschuurder – who last week vandalized Yitzhak Rabin’s Tel Aviv memorial in protest of the Shalit deal – shouted: “Hang a black flag over your home in Mitzpe Hila, this is a day of mourning.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a letter Monday to hundreds of families of terror victims. In his letter, Netanyahu expressed understanding and empathy for the families, but stated that he is “faced with the responsibility of the Prime Minister of Israel to bring home every soldier who is sent to protect our citizens.”

The first phase of the swap, to take place Tuesday, should bring to a close a saga that has gripped Israelis over the five years of Shalit’s captivity in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

But under Israeli law, those against the planned release of 477 of the 1,027 Palestinian prisoners included in the deal – many of whom were convicted of deadly attacks – can appeal before the exchange is carried out.

Hamas prepared a heroes’ welcome in Gaza for 295 of the prisoners due to be sent to the territory. Palestinians regard brethren jailed by Israel as prisoners of war in a struggle for statehood. Israel holds some 6,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Shalit, now 25, was captured in 2006 by militants who tunneled into Israel from the Gaza Strip and surprised his tank crew, killing two of his comrades.

The repatriation of captured soldiers, alive or dead, has long been an emotionally charged issue for Israelis, many of whom have served in the military. But they also feel a sting over the high price they feel Israel paid for Shalit.

Ron Kehrmann, whose daughter Tal was among 17 people killed in a suicide bombing on a bus in the northern Israeli city of Haifa in 2003, said he was asking the High Court to prevent the release of three Palestinians linked to the attack. But he said he was not hopeful. “This whole fiasco – it’s fixed,” he told Army Radio.

Yossi Zur, whose son Asaf was among 17 people killed in a suicide bombing on a bus in the Israeli city of Haifa in 2003, asked the court to prevent the release of the prisoners, three of whom were linked to the attack.

“From our experience with past deals, and sadly we have a lot of experience, we know how many Israelis will be killed as a result of the release of these terrorists. I am here to protect my children who are still alive,” Zur told Channel 10 television.

In a rare step, the court has allowed Shalit’s parents to appear and argue in favor of the deal for their son. “Nobody knows what the impact of any delay, or any change, even the smallest, in the terms would be,” they wrote in a letter to the court.

Israel’s Prison Service has bused the 477 Palestinian prisoners under heavy guard to two holding facilities ahead of their release. On Tuesday, some of the Palestinians will be brought to Egypt’s Sinai desert, where the exchange for Shalit will take place. Some of those prisoners will be taken to the Gaza Strip and others will be exiled abroad. Shalit will be flown to an air base in Israel to be reunited with his family.

A smaller group of prisoners on the release roster will be taken from Israel to the West Bank, where they will be welcomed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a Hamas rival, and their families.

In the second stage, expected to take place in about two months, the remaining 550 Palestinian prisoners will be freed, officials said.

Israel’s deal with Hamas seemed unlikely to have an impact on international efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which collapsed 13 months ago in a dispute over settlement-building in the West Bank.

Abbas has been pursuing a bid for United Nations recognition of Palestinian statehood in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the absence of negotiations with Israel.

Gilad Shalit’s father, Noam, arrived at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on Monday morning for a High Court of Justice deliberation of four petitions filed against the prisoner exchange deal to secure his son’s release.

As he entered the building, Shalit was greeted with harsh responses from members of bereaved families whose loved ones’ murderers are about to be released from Israel’s prison as part of the deal.

Shalit submitted to court his response to the petitions. The State Prosecutor’s Office said in its own response that there was no room for the court’s intervention in the implementation of the deal.

Noam Shalit in court on Monday (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

Shvuel Schijveschuurder, whose parents and three siblings were killed in a bombing at the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem, approached Noam Shalit at the start of the emotionally charged discussion and told him, “Your son will come home and say, ‘Hello father, hello mother,’ and then we’ll experience the biggest terror attack ever seen here.

“Look us in the eyes,” the orphan added. “Put a black ribbon over the flag you placed on your house in Mitzpe Hila. This is a day of mourning.”

Shvuel Schijveschuurder in court on Monday (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

Yossi Zur, who lost his son Assaf in a terror attack on bus No. 37 in Haifa, said to Shalit, “You shouldn’t have come to this discussion.” He later told reporters that Shalit’s arrival was like “stabbing someone in the back and twisting the knife.”

Zur added, “We came to this hearing to ask the judges to save us and cancel this immoral deal. The government’s decision is insane.”

Bereaved families march to High Court on Monday (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

Other bereaved parents told Shalit they had nothing against him. Ze’ev Rapp, whose daughter Helena was stabbed to death by a Palestinian terrorist in Bat Yam, said: “I just want to know if a prime minister’s promise still holds.”

The kidnapped soldier’s father listened to the reactions, but did not respond.

Rapp added upon entering the courthouse that he was considering returning his identity card to the State in protest of the prisoner exchange.

“I am not against Shalit’s return, I am against the release of my daughter’s murderer. I have a written commitment from three prime ministers who promised me that he won’t be released. If this is the country I live in, I’ll draw my conclusions. I am thinking about returning the identity cards and reserve forces certificates of all my family members.”

Ze’ev Rapp and Noam Shalit in court on Monday (Photo: Reuters)

Meir Eindor, head of the Almagor Terror Victims Association, said during the High Court discussion: “Hamas didn’t just kidnap Gilad, it kidnapped the family members, those surrounding them and the entire Israeli society, together with the campaigners who led five years of pressure which brought us to this court today. This is exactly what terror does.”

Eindor added, “We are a civilian front whose job is to ensure that Jewish blood receives the justice the victim under the tombstone is crying out for, what my grandparents cried for on their way to the crematorium. Revenge is justice, justice is judgment, and judgment is ethics.”

In its response to the petitions, the Shalit family expressed “fear that any change in its delicate framework could torpedo the entire deal.” According to the family, “Such a failure could result in a horrible price to a point of no return.”

The family is asking the court to reject the petitions and enable the implementation of the government’s decision. “It is not a deal that was rushed into. It was formulated in long and rigorous negotiations, and was agreed upon by a vast majority of the Israeli government based on lengthy discussions with the relevant officials.”

Aviva Shalit: Every delay risks Gilad’s life (Video: Ido Becker)

The State Prosecutor’s Office also submitted its response to the petitions, claiming that the administrative procedure in approving the deal was conducted properly and that the government’s considerations were relevant, therefore there was no reason for the High Court to intervene in the deal’s implementation.

“Once the deal has been signed it is one piece, so we must take into account that any delay in one of its components means a delay in the entire deal,” the State said in its response.

“There is no basis for the conclusion that international law forbids easing the punishment of these prisoners for political reasons and extraordinary circumstances as we see in this case, when it comes to bargaining required to prevent the ongoing violation of international law – keeping Gilad Shalit in complete isolation and without any contact with the outside world, without allowing Red Cross visits…

“The court has already ruled in the past that political considerations are relevant considerations the authorities may take into account,” the state said.

Addressing the petitioners’ claim that the Shalit deal was in violation of international law, the State used a harsher tone, claiming that it was “far-reaching” and “unfounded”.

Supreme Court President Beinisch presides over court hearing Monday (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

It remains unclear when the court will make its ruling, although it is estimated that the justices will wait until Monday evening to allow the 48-hour timeframe given to submit petitions against the deal to pass.

Senior legal officials estimated on Sunday evening that the High Court would reject the petitions, as was the case in previous prisoner swap deals. “In similar verdicts in the past, such as the one filed two years ago against a Shalit deal, President Beinisch rejected the petition, saying that it was in the government’s discretion and its responsibility,” the officials told Ynet.

They also sought to remind the public that a petition against the deal to return the bodies of IDF soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser from Lebanon was also rejected by the High Court, which argued that it does not intervene in the government’s decisions pertaining to Israel’s foreign policy and security-related matters.

The sources explained, “Today, petitions with the High Court of Justice serve as a stage for families of terror victims to voice their pain even though the result is well-known in advance.”

Meir Schijveschuurder files his petition to the court (Photo: Noam Moskovich)

The first petition was filed on Friday by the Almagor organization, which represents families of terror victims.

The second petition was filed by surviving members of the Schijveschuurder family, who lost five relatives in a 2001 suicide bombing of a Jerusalem Sbarro branch. They are demanding that the court prevent the release of Ahlam Tamimi, an accomplice who drove the terrorist to the scene of the attack.

The third petition was filed by Ronit Tamari, a resident of Jerusalem, who claims in her petition that the deal is bringing Israel to its knees. She demands that 29 prisoners be removed from the list of released terroists.

On Sunday afternoon, Attorney Ze’ev Dasberg from the judicial institute for terror research, whose sister and brother-in-law Effi and Yaron Unger were murdered in a terror attack near Kfar Menachem in 1996 filed an additional petition, the fourth of its kind against the Shalit deal.

Eilat terror victims laid to rest Photo: Isrphoto

In the coming days, as more than a thousand Palestinian political prisoners are released from Israel’s jails, psychologists working with victims of terror warn that the images and notion of their freedom could trigger severe trauma or flashbacks, known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), in some cases.

“These feelings are very complex, but I am sure this situation could reactivate some of their trauma,” said clinical psychologist Dr. Eleanor Pardess, a lecturer at Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center and a volunteer for the non-profit organization SELAH, which provides a range of supportive services to immigrants that have experienced any type of trauma.

According to the most recent figures from the National Insurance Institute (NII), close to 1000 people have been killed and 17,000 injured since the Second Intifada began in 2000. Since 1950, 2443 people, including 119 non-Israelis, tourists and foreign workers, have been killed in terror attacks.

While both the Foreign Ministry and various non-profit organizations working with terror victims claim the numbers of those affected directly and indirectly by terrorism in Israel is much higher than this, what is clear is that this deal has opened many of the psychological wounds that some have experienced individually and that have been felt collectively as a nation.

Within days of the announcement that Gilad Schalit was coming home thanks to a prisoner exchange, many deeply affected by the ongoing violence warned that the price was too high. On Thursday night, Shvuel Schijveschuurder, who lost his parents and three of his siblings in the 2001 bombing of the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem, vandalized the Yitzhak Rabin memorial to show his anger over the deal.

On Sunday, several individuals and the Almagor Terror Victims Association filed a number of petitions in the High Court of Justice against the release of certain prisoners who were involved directly in attacks that killed or maimed multiple people.

“There is now a deep fear that no one is listening to these people,” observed Pardess, adding that the victims and their families need understanding and “must not be left to feel like they have been forgotten.”

“They have to know that what they and others have been through has not been for nothing,” she said, adding that there is also the fear factor and the security element.

“As they see these prisoners being released, it is important for us to emphasize to them that the government or the state will continue with its security procedures,” said Pardess.

Professor Danny Brom, head of the Israel Center for the Treatment of Psychotrauma at Herzog Hospital, also pointed out that while “the response from the public is ambivalent, everyone is glad that Gilad is coming home. On the other hand, people are angry because they fear it could cause deaths of others in the future.”

“All this is very hard for people who have suffered as a result of terrorism,” he said, pointing out that it could cause deep anxiety among those who have suffered attacks.

“With most people sympathizing with the Schalit family, it is important for all of us not to forget the bereaved and injured families,” said Ruth Bar-On, the director of SELAH, which works very closely with hundreds of bereaved families whose lives have been impacted by terrorism.

“We must always remember that these people have seen their lives change significantly and their pain never goes away. It goes with them everywhere,” she said.

A Palestinian prisoner being transported from Nafha Prison to Hasharon Prison ahead of Tuesday’s prisoner exchange deal. (Photo by Ilan Assayag)

On Monday, The High Court of Justice will hear four petitions against the deal that would free 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.

On Sunday, Shalit’s parents urged the court to reject the petitions quickly, warning that any hitch at this time could easily upset the deal. “Nobody knows what the impact of any delay, or any change, even the smallest, in the terms would be,” they wrote in a request to be added to the cases as parties defending the deal.

Gilad’s mother, Aviva, also issued a media appeal to the bereaved families behind some of the petitions, saying that while she understands their pain at seeing their loved ones’ killers freed, “any change or delay in the deal could endanger Gilad’s life.”

But sources in both the defense establishment and the state prosecution said they were confident that the court would reject all the petitions by this evening, enabling the deal to go ahead tomorrow as planned. And the petitioners largely concurred.

The first petition was filed last week by Almagor, an association representing victims of terror. It is seeking a 48-hour delay in the prisoners’ release, saying there hasn’t been enough time to thoroughly review all the names on the list, which is necessary to allow people to decide whether to petition against the deal.

On Sunday, the group submitted an affidavit by three senior reserve officers warning of the security risks the deal posed.

Three other petitions were also filed on Sunday.

One was by Meir Schijveschuurder, who lost his parents and three of his seven siblings in the 2001 bombing of a Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem. It asks the court to set “clear criteria for freeing security prisoners” and objects particularly to the release of Ahlam Tamimi, who was sentenced to 15 life terms for her role in the attack.

Schijveschuurder said he had little hope of the petition being accepted but felt obligated to exhaust every possibility of stopping the deal.

The second was by attorney Zeev Dasberg, whose sister and brother-in-law, Efrat and Yaron Ungar, were killed in a 1996 shooting attack. Dasberg also wrote directly to President Shimon Peres, on Sunday, to urge him not to sign the prisoners’ pardons, saying he didn’t understand how Peres could pardon the murderers after having told the media that he didn’t forgive them.

The third was by Jerusalem resident Ronit Tamari, who is not herself a bereaved relative but said she feared that the deal would lead to a new wave of terror.

Aside from the High Court petitions, several bereaved families sought orders from lower courts barring their loved ones’ killers from leaving the country. Such applications, filed as part of civil suits, were submitted to the Haifa, Jerusalem and Petah Tikva district courts on Sunday, and Dasberg said he expected other families to file similar applications on Monday.

“I’ve been encouraging people to file civil suits against the terrorists, including a demand for punitive damages,” he said. “The minute the state walked away from punishing the terrorists, everyone must do it on his own.”

Though the Haifa court refused to issue the requested orders Sunday, Dasberg said the ruling did have one positive aspect: It allowed the plaintiffs to serve the terrorists with their damages suit, a necessary step toward obtaining a judgment against them.

But even when courts have ordered terrorists to pay compensation, no plaintiff has yet been able to collect. In 2003, for instance, the Ungar family sued both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority in an American court (since Efrat Ungar was a U.S. citizen ) and was awarded $116 million. But it has never gotten a penny from either defendant.

Palestinian prisoners on bus before release [file] Photo: Yannis Behrakis / Reuters

During centuries of exile and wandering, the Jewish people has, sadly, accumulated immense experience with extortion and abductions. Wherever they went, Jews tended to excel but, unfortunately, often lacked the means to defend the fruits of their labor. Too often they became easy prey for kidnappers.

Jews’ strong emphasis on the value of life, their belief that they share a common fate and their strong feeling of mutual responsibility led them to go to extreme measures to free hostages. And this was ruthlessly exploited by their enemies.

Throughout the ages, Jewish communities have been forced to face the inherent dilemmas that characterize any prisoner release. A rich rabbinic literature developed to grapple with the moral and legal aspects of what was referred to as “redeeming hostages” [pidyon shvuim].

The founders of the State of Israel hoped to change the course of Jewish history and eradicate the endemic vulnerability of the Jewish condition in the Diaspora. And they largely succeeded.

However, with all their accomplishments and impressive military might, the Jewish people in Israel have been unable to shake off some old challenges.

Israelis, like their ancestors, continue to value life immensely and believe strongly in the concept of mutual responsibility [areyvut]. And since IDF service is mandatory, lines are blurred between soldier and citizen. Israel’s many enemies do everything in their power to take advantage of these “weaknesses.” (Other cultures, such as in the US, lack this Achilles’ heel, because they see POWs as a necessary price to pay for fighting wars.)

Many of the moral deliberations surrounding the prisoner exchange deal to release Sgt. Gilad Schalit have been agonized over by Jewish sages for ages. And there are no easy answers. The Mishna, written in the first centuries of the first millennium when many Jews lived under the Roman Empire, already prohibits redeeming captives “for more than their monetary value” to foster “society’s welfare” [tikkun olam]. Payment of exorbitant ransoms, explains the Talmud, might bankrupt the community. Also, it notes, the knowledge that Jews are willing to pay dearly to release hostages might encourage future kidnappings.

Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg (1215-1293), who was kidnapped in Germany, famously issued a ruling from jail prohibiting his followers to pay his ransom. He died in captivity. Indeed, this no-dealing-with-extortionists approach is eminently logical. Hamas has already indicated that Schalit “will not be the last soldier kidnapped.”

The release of 1,150 Palestinian terrorists, including Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin – in the May 1985 Ahmed Jibril deal – helped spark the First Intifada. Of 238 terrorists freed in the Jibril deal who reached Judea and Samaria, 48 percent returned to terrorism and were recaptured by the IDF, according to the Almagor Terror Victims Association. And since 2000, it says, some 180 Israelis have been killed in attacks planned by Palestinian terrorists released in prisoner exchange deals.

Then again, Maimonides (1135-1204) states: “There is no commandment as great as the redemption of captives.”

And Rabbi Yosef Karo (1488-1575), in his Shulhan Arukh, notes: “Each instant that one fails to redeem captives when it is possible to do so, it is as though one has shed blood.”

Some contemporary rabbis have extrapolated from these rulings to support prison swaps.

For instance, Shas mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef has argued that in cases such as Schalit’s, the clear and present danger to the life of the hostage outweighs the potential danger to Israelis who might become the future targets of the freed terrorists.

Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli (1910-1995), a leading national religious Halachic authority, ruled that an unwritten agreement exists between the State of Israel and the soldier that no efforts will be spared to secure a release in the case of kidnapping.

This obviously serves to bolster the soldier’s morale and is a reassuring message for the soldier’s family and loved ones.

Sadly, the Jewish people’s trials and tribulations have not ended with the creation of the State of Israel. And while our rich tradition offers no definitive decision on the Schalit deal, it does provide unique insight into the many facets of an age-old dilemma with no easy answers.

Palestinian prisoners transferred ahead of the Gilad Shalit swap deal, Oct. 16, 2011. (Photo by Alon Ron)

As the public debate rages on concerning the Palestinian prisoners released in a deal meant to secure the freedom of Israeli soldier Gilad shalit, a Haaretz investigation ahows that the 477 prisoners due to be released in the first stage of Israel-Hamas deal were sentenced to a total of 883 life sentences, in addition to 4,940 years in prison.

According to the official prisoner list published by the Israel Prison Service on Sunday, 275 of the inmates due to be release were sentenced to life in prison, an average of 3.21 life sentences per prisoner.

Another 198 prisoners were sentenced to an average of 24.9 years in prison, with an additional 3 detainees still awaiting sentencing.

Of the prisoners serving terms shorter than life sentences, 11 were sentenced to less than 11 years; 54 were sent to between 11-20 years; 96 were sent to terms as long as 20-30 years; and 27 prisoners were sentenced to 30 years or more.

Earlier Sunday, prison officials began the transportation of the prisoners due to be released in the Shalit deal from 16 different detention centers to the Ktzi’ot prison in southern Israel.

The 27 female inmates to be released as part of the Israel-Hamas agreement were moved in the morning from Damon prison in the Carmel area to Hasharon prison in the center of Israel.

On Monday, the High Court is due to discuss petitions submitted against the Shalit deal, one by the Almagor Terror Victims Association, as well as two other private petitions.

Noam Shalit, the father of captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, speaks to the media at a protest tent outside the residence of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, October 11, 2011. (Photo by Reuters)

The Shalit family requested on Sunday to be present at a High Court of Justice hearing, scheduled to discuss petitions issued geared at thwarting a prisoner exchange deal that would secure the release of their son, Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, warning that any delay in the agreement’s execution could lead to its failure.

The court is expected to discuss the petitions of individual families of terror victims aginst the Shalit deal on noon Monday, as well as they of the Almagor Terror Victims Association.

Speaking to Haaretz on Thursday, one day prior to the petition’s submission, Almagor chairman Meir Indor told Haaretz that the petition was “not a political decision, but a philosophical one. This deal empties the justice system of content in the name of values the prime minister considers are more important.”

High Court approval of the petitions against the release, or the refusal of President Shimon Peres to pardon them, could thwart implementation of the exchange deal.

However, in the past the courts have turned down petitions by families seeking to prevent the en masse release of prisoners, and presidents have rubber-stamped such releases.

On Sunday, the Shalit family asked the High Court of Justice to allow them to attend Monday’s hearing, and to enable them to respond to the petitioners’ claims against the deal. Later Sunday, the High Court approved the Shalit family’s participation.

In their request, the Shalit family warned against any delay in what they called a “delicate” deal to release their son, fearing that any change, even the smallest, could cause the agreement to fall through.

“Any change, any shift in terms, even in the agreed-upon timetable, may be a cause to change the deal and may even bring about its nullification,” the Shalit request read, adding: “It is in face of all of these, that the Shalit family issues its request, one coupled with a moral demand of the highest order”

“It is a personal demand, made by all of the family members that the esteemed court does not accept any change, delay, or the displacement of a single element, as tiny as it may be, in the delicate fabric of the Shalit deal, as it was approved by the government,” the request added.

Recent Palestinian criticism of the terms of the Shalit deal was also cited as a potential point of trouble, one which made the Israel-Hamas agreement all the more fragile.

The Shalit family also indicated that their opposition to the Almagor petitions did not mean that family members did “not empathize with the [bereaved] families’ pain, whose sons and daughters were hurt in terror attacks.”

“Noam Shalit also lost a brother in the Yom Kippur war. But, now that their son’s release is so close, the family cannot agree to any delay,” the request said.

In 2008, Justice Eliezer Rivlin ruled, in the case of Samir Kuntar – who was convicted of murdering a policeman and members of the Haran family in Nahariya in 1979 and released in exchange for the bodies of Israel Defense Forces soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev – that the release of prisoners was at the government’s discretion.

It seems unlikely that Peres, who has spoken enthusiastically in favor of the Shalit swap, will stand in the way. Moreover, Peres was prime minister in 1985, in the so-called Jibril swap, when 1,150 security prisoners, were released in return for three IDF soldiers, Hezi Shai, Nissim Salem and Yosef Grof, who were captured during the first Lebanon war. Included in that swap were Kozo Okamoto, among the perpetrators of the Lod airport massacre in 1972, and Ahmed Yasin, who became Hamas’ spiritual leader.

The Terror Victims Association, the representative organization for victims of terror throughout the country announced Sunday that opinion among association was divided with regards to the Shalit deal.

Moreover, the organization stressed that it objected to the fact that no organized and authorized statement was given to the families “and the victims whose murderers are set to be freed through this deal”.

Two retired IDF officers, Brigadier General Amatzia Chen and Lieutenant Colonel Dan Sion, have submitted to the Supreme Court a security deposition where they assert that the Shalit deal would be a mistake. The deposition was presented in support of the Almagor Terror Victims Association’s petition to annul the prisoner swap agreement.

The officers claimed that the government’s decision to carry out the deal makes no strategic sense and goes against the leaders’ obligation to protect the citizens of Israel. They added that the government is not applying lessons learned from previous kidnappings, which they said is a moral offense that will cost lives in the future.

Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch will preside over a panel of High Court judges who are scheduled to discuss on Monday the petitions filed against the Shalit deal.

The Panel, which will include justices Eliezer Rivlin and Hanan Meltzer, is expected to examine the Almagor Terror Victims Association’s petition to annul the prisoner swap deal and other such cases.

While the Israel Prison Service transported busloads of Palestinian inmates to the Ketziot and Hasharon prisons ahead of their release, families who lost loved ones in terror attacks continued to petition the nation’s courts, seeking to derail the deal that is about to set terrorists free.

The prisoner swap agreement, which Israel signed with Hamas, calls for the release of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

Surviving members of the Schijveschuurder family, who lost five relatives in a 2001 suicide bombing of a Jerusalem Sbarro branch, have filed a petition with the High Court of Justice to prevent the release of Ahlam Tamimi, an accomplice who drove the terrorist to the scene of the attack.

“Asked whether she regrets the act, Ahlam Tamimi told an Israeli reporter that she was saddened that she could not kill more than 15 Jews,” the petition said.

Ahlam Tamimi (Photo: Dan Balilty)

Moreover, the family demanded the State “set clear criteria for the release of security inmates included in the capitulation deal.”

“Tamimi, a cold-blooded killer, continues to tell anyone who would listen that she will return to terrorism, and that her release puts Jews in danger both in Israel and abroad,” the family added. “The decision to free her is extremely unreasonable. The government does not have the legitimacy to release murder convicts who are sentenced to life terms.”

Shvuel Schijveschuurder, whose parents and siblings were killed in the bombing, was arrested on Thursday for vandalizing a memorial for Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in an act of reprisal against the impending prisoner swap.

‘Deal Brings Israel to Its Knees’

Also on Sunday, Ronit Tamari, a Jerusalem resident, petitioned the High Court to remove the 29 prisoners from the list of convicts who are to be freed in the deal. Among the 29 are Abed Amro, a member of the terrorist cell that was behind a bombing of Jerusalem’s Café Hillel in 2003, and Jihad Yaghmur, who is responsible for Nachshon Wachsman’s abduction and murder.

Prisoners bussed south ahead of release (Photo: Hagay Aharon)

Tamari, a self-described “concerned citizen,” slammed the government for reckless behavior.

“The release of 1,027 terrorists, most of whom are the most abominable killers the justice system has ever seen, is disproportionate,” she wrote. “This deal brings Israel to its knees before an extremist terror organization. It means a defeat for Israel in its war on terror.”

Tamari demanded the government explain why it decided to release Palestinian terrorists “with much blood on their hands,” and how it intends to protect its citizens from acts of terror perpetrated by the convicted murderers.

Ynet has learned that the High Court of Justice has scheduled a hearing for Monday to discuss the Almagor Terror Victims Association’s petition to annul the Shalit deal. The organization has also asked the court to extend the period of time that the Justice Ministry has given the public to voice their objections to the deal.

Protest against deal in front of president’s home (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

The petition is to be examined by a panel of three judges.

Families Sue Terrorists

Meanwhile, families of victims of a Haifa bus bombing filed a suit with the Haifa District Court against three men involved in the terror attack, who are set to be released as part of the Shalit deal. The Kerman and Tzur families are motioning for a hold-departure order as well as NIS 2.25 (roughly $610,000) million in compensation.

Tal Kerman, 18 and Asaf Tzur, 17 were killed in a suicide bombing on the 37 bus line in Haifa in 2003. A total of 17 people were killed in the attack and dozens were wounded. The three men behind the attack were sentenced to 17 consecutive life sentences.

Ron Kerman and Yossi Tzur, the fathers of the two victims, filed a damages claim against the planners of the attack as well as a motion for a hold-departure order. The damages claim stated that the deaths left the families with deep mental scars to the point of disability.

The bereaved families stressed that after the terrorists are released they will no longer be able to sue them or even trace them. “They are up for release solely because their friends abducted Shalit who served as a bargaining chip,” the claim stated.

Yossi Tzur said Sunday that the families have yet to seek legal action against the three as they did not believe they would be released so soon, and seeing as most such lawsuits fail to achieve anything.