Peres says will have to pardon many prisoners

President Shimon Peres met Wednesday morning with high school students from the southern Kibbutz Yotvata in the Hevel Eilot Regional Council.

The president answered students' questions about the negotiations taking place to return kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit and said:"I will have to pardon many of the released prisoners if there's a deal."

A student from Maale Shaharut School asked the president for his opinion on releasing terrorists with "blood on their hands'. The president replied that "the price the government agreed to pay is high and difficult to do. I would lean toward different options, but we tried those in the past, and lost a soldier."

Peres noted that his involvement as a president included receiving updates and signing the pardons.

"I believe (Gilad) Shalit has become a symbol for the Israeli youth and the state. If Hamas returns to its original demands, which are high as it is, we will see Gilad returning home," he said.

Peres further claimed that "the problem is not on the side of the Israeli government, but rather on the other side. There is a disagreement between the interior and foreign Hamas factions."

The president also referred to media reports and said there is no room for those, because they interrupt the negotiation process. "The government is acting full heartedly and responsibly to bring him home," he said.

Also Wednesday, Interior Minister Eli Yishai met with Gilad Shalit's parents, Noam and Aviva, in his Jerusalem office.