Yosef Grof in captivity
Photo: Channel 2
Nissim Salem
Photo: Channel 2
Rare footage shows IDF troops in captivity
(Video) Al-Jazeera airs never-before-seen footage from documentary on Israeli prisoner swap deals showing three IDF soldiers in Syrian captivity before their release as part of Jibril deal in 1985, which set free 1,150 terrorists
VIDEO - Al-Jazeera on Thursday showed never-before-seen footage of captive IDF soldiers released as part of the Jibril deal in 1985. The short film shows the dungeon in which Yosef Grof and Nissim Salem were held in Syria. Grof, Salem, and Hezi Shai were returned to Israel
as part of the deal.
One part of the film shows Grof after watching a video clip on the Sabra and Shatila massacre, to which he responded tearfully, "The world will learn quickly of the dimensions of the massacre at Sabra and Shatila, and because the PLO's weapons were no longer there, the question of why so many were killed will also come up."
Video courtesy of Channel 2 News
Grof added that the clip brought up past images he had sought to forget. "I will certainly have many dreams tonight and it will be hard," he said.
The video broadcast by Al-Jazeera is part of a three-part documentary entitled 'Exchange', which portrays all of Israel's prisoner swap deals since 1978. The series claims to reveal footage and information about these deals that have never seen the light of day.
The episode that aired Thursday night dealt with eight IDF soldiers captured during the Lebanon War in 1982. Six of the soldiers were held by Fatah and the other two by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, headed by Ahmed Jibril.
The film shows segments from the soldiers' interrogation, places in which they were held, and pictures of them with military gear.
Thursday's episode also shows the house in which the late Nachshon Waxman was held by Hamas in 1994. It displays the wreckage left behind after the house exploded.
The producer of the series, Suhaib Abu Dula, said it had required two years of research. "It is the first time the Palestinian factions have opened up on the issue and spoken about the planning of these quality operations, characterized by defense and one goal – carrying out prisoner swap deals in order to force Israel to release Palestinians from its prisons," he said.
The highly controversial Jibril deal was approved by Israel in May of 1985. In exchange for Grof, Shai, and Salem Shimon Peres' government released 1,150 terrorists from prison.
Of the released detainees 606 remained in the Palestinian territories. Of them, Jibril Rajoub went on to head the Palestinian security forces and Sheikh Ahmed Yassin went on to establish Hamas.
Among the prisoners released abroad were Kozo Okamoto, of the organizers of the attack on Ben Gurion International Airport, as well as two of the organizers of a deadly terror attack on a bus traveling along the coast. Jibril's nephew was also released.
