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Photo: Amir Cohen
Photo: Eli Elgarat
Gal-On: Consider a prisoner exchange
Photo: Eli Elgarat

Meretz: Don't rule out prisoner exchange

Meretz Knesset members voice opposition to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's refusal to weigh the release of Palestinian prisoners to secure release of kidnapped soldier

Knesset Member Zahava Gal-On (Meretz) called on the prime minister and defense minister "not to hasten and lock themselves with declarations that won't allow the release of the kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit."

 

 

Gal-On told the prime minister: "I recommend Olmert not make declarations and obligations he can't keep. If it is needed and will bring to the release of the soldier, a prisoner exchange can't be ruled out. I am afraid that if the kidnappers see there is no one tot talk to they will harm the kidnapped soldier. Israeli government always says 'no' to negotiation, but always hold it in the end. Olmert is climbing a high tree and it's clear in the end he will have to come down from it. The safety of the kidnapped soldier must be at the top of the prime minister's priorities."

 

She added: "The leadership is being tested in its ability to deal with complex situations, not with flexing verbal muscles. The government must give supreme precedence to returning the soldier, even if Israel must pay a price for this."

 

Knesset Member Ran Cohen (Meretz) said: "I was surprised by the comments of the prime minister who said there was nothing to talk about on negotiations and exchanging prisoners. There should be negotiations with whoever we can talk to, including Hamas."

 

Cohen added that "there has not been a situation in the history of the State that we did not hold talks for exchanging prisoners, even in less critical incidents like Elhanan Tennenbaum. I suggest the prime minister stop being boastful."

 

'Government making a lot of dust'

 

National Union Faction Chairman Knesset Member Uri Ariel said, however that that "the Olmert government is a government of image advisers. They send jeeps from place to place and create a lot of dust."

 

Ariel added that "Gaza should be divided into three parts… such a move will prevent free passage of terrorists and arms."

 

Prime Minister Olmert said that the question of releasing prisoners does not appear in Israel's agenda at all, and that the time for action is running out. Olmert made the comments at a conference of the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem.

 

Olmert said, "We see the Palestinian Authority headed by (Palestinian President) Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian government as responsible for the terror attack yesterday, for the Israeli soldier's abduction and for his safe and sound return to Israel."

 

"It is not a matter up for negotiation, development or arrangement. It is a matter of basic obligation to conform to the elementary rules of decency of the international community, and those who want to be part of it," Olmert said.

 


פרסום ראשון: 06.27.06, 10:52
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