Rally for Shalit
Photo: Ohad Zoigenberg
Retracted offer. Netanyahu
Photo: Reuters
PM's Office: Shalit talks require nerves of steel
Der Spiegel sources say prisoner swap talks on brink of collapse after Netanyahu retracted latest offer to Hamas. 'PM determined to preserve Israel's security interests throughout process,' aides say
The online edition of German weekly magazine Der Spiegel reported Sunday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had retracted Israel's latest offer to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.
According to the weekly's sources, the entire deal is on the brink of collapse, although officials in Netanyahu's office said negotiations were ongoing.
Shalit was kidnapped into Gaza on June 25, 2006.
Israeli Position
Attila Somfalvi
Prime minister tells Likud ministers Israel will not release 'terror symbols' in prisoner exchange deal for captive soldier Gilad Shalit. Netanyahu also stressed that construction in settlements is to resume in eight months
The sources told Der Spiegel that Netanyahu surprised the German mediator when he pulled the Israeli offer just before Christmas, claiming Israel wanted to revise the list of Palestinian prisoners slated for release.
The German weekly quoted officials in Jerusalem as saying that while Netanyahu gave Hagai Hadas free reign, he eventually decided that the Israeli negotiator had "gone too far" and rejected some of the agreements with Hamas.
The PM's Office refused to respond directly to the Der Spiegel report, but did issue a statement saying, "The negotiations for Shalit's release are complex and require nerves of steel. The prime minister is determined to preserve Israel's security interests throughout the process. His position is that there must be a balance between the desire to bring Gilad home and the need to prevent dangerous prisoners who have murdered people from returning to areas from which they can bring harm to Israeli citizens."
