The High Court of Justice rejected Tuesday a petition against the prisoner exchange deal with Hizbullah
filed by the family of policeman Eliyahu Shahar, who was murdered along with Danny Haran and his 4-year-old daughter by Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar in 1979 during a cross-border raid on Nahariya.
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In the appeal, which was filed with the Almagor Terror Victims Association, the court was asked to hold another hearing on the agreement, according to which Israel is expected to release Kuntar and four other Lebanese prisoners and return to Lebanon the remains of some 200 slain Hizbullah gunmen in exchange for IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, who are believed dead.
In a later stage of the deal, Israel will also release an undetermined number of Palestinian prisoners.
In the ruling Justice Eliezer Rivlin wrote that the decision to reject the plea was unanimous. He said the government is the sole authority when it comes to signing deals such as the one reached with Hizbullah and releasing Palestinian prisoners.
Yoram Shahar, Eliyahu's brother, said in response "the rejection of the petition disgraces each and every Israeli citizen, because we do not realize what a mass murderer we are releasing. He (Kuntar) is not remorseful and he never said he would not resume his terror-related activity," the brother said.
"Letting Kuntar go is akin to giving (Hizbullah leader Hassan) Nasrallah the formula for the atomic bomb."
Shahar continued to say "(Kuntar) should especially not be released in exchange for two bodies. We are hurting our deterrence, because this move may create a situation in which Nasrallah realizes that Israel has changed the rules of the game.
"Where are our red lines? What is preventing him (Nasrallah) from kidnapping of another soldier and demanding an F-16 jet in exchange for his return?" he said.
In its answer to the appeal the State said excluding Kuntar from the deal would likely result its complete collapse, adding that such a move would have massive diplomatic and defense-related ramifications.
Shimon Peres' office is expected to receive the official request to pardon Kuntar within the next few days, but an aide said the president won't approve the request until "a certain stage" in the deal is reached to make certain the prisoner swap is implemented in full.
The president is expected to consult with the relevant officials, including negotiator Ofer Dekel, before reaching his decision.
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