VIDEO - President Shimon Peres pardonedLebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar late Tuesday ahead of the prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hizbullah, scheduled for Wednesday at 9 am.
In letter addressed to Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann, Peres wrote "I want to stress the obvious – in this decision there is no forgiveness or absolution for the murderer's heinous actions. I will not forget, and I won't forgive."
The president continued to say in the letter, "I have reached this difficult decision after speaking with the Shahar, Keren and Haran families – the families of the victims of the despicable murderer Samir Kuntar. I, together with all the people of Israel, feel their pain, which is unbearable."
Kuntar was part of a terror cell that carried out a cross-border raid on the northern town of Nahariya in 1979. Danny Haran, his two daughters and police officer Eliyahu Shahar were killed in the attack.
Danny Haran's mother Nina Keren said prior to her meeting with Peres in Jerusalem, “I can’t stop crying. I am in complete shock. I never thought they would let him (Kuntar) go. They always told me that people with blood on their hands would not be released.
Ronen Shahar, Eliyahu's brother, said following the meeting "it was hard for the president to look me in the eyes. He said it was difficult for him and that it was tearing him up inside, but the decision (to free Kuntar) has already been made.
"The bodies (of the slain Hizbullah terrorists) have already been exhumed, and nothing can stop the prisoner exchange from taking place. We never should have come here," he said.
Earlier the cabinet authorized the prisoner exchange. Only three ministers voted against the agreement, which will see the repatriation of captive Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in return for the release of terrorist Samir Kuntar and four additional Hizbullah fighters arrested during the Second Lebanon War. Israel will also return the bodies of 190 combatants.
Only three ministers voted against the agreement, which will see the repatriation of captive Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in return for the release of terrorist Samir Kuntar and four additional Hizbullah fighters arrested during the Second Lebanon War. Israel will also return the bodies of 190 combatants.
Meanwhile, final preparations were being made Tuesday evening on the Lebanese side of the border for the prisoner exchange between Israel and Hizbullah, with gunmen belonging to the Shiite group setting up a stage adorned with the photos of Kuntar and the four other terrorists who are slated for release.
Kuntar's brother, Bassam, told Reuters "after 30 years of waiting - I was only a year and a few months old (when he was captured), I never knew him except through pictures and letters. The moment I meet him will be exceptional".
"It's a moment I've always dreamed of and that stayed in my imagination," he said, adding that fireworks, gatherings and billboards had been prepared to mark his brother's return.