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Israel?s Shin Bet opposes Fatah prisoner releaseBy ICEJ News  Israel’s cabinet decision on Sunday to free around 200 Palestinian prisoners, mostly Fatah members, as a friendly gesture to Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas was negatively received by the Shin Bet security agency. "You have to hear the responses inside the Shin Bet to the release. They work day and night to capture and neutralize terrorists, and all of it is gone in an instant," said one security official. Almost half of the security prisoners are freed before completing their prison term, said the defense source. “People in the Shin Bet end up asking, ‘Why do we capture these people? Where did all my work go? Where is the deterrence?... A terrorist who plants an explosive device gets 10 years in prison but will end up being released after three or four years. This hurts the motivation in the Shin Bet," he said. The source said Israel decided to proceed with July’s prisoner swap with Hizbullah because it was unlikely to have the same deal with Hamas to get kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Schalit back. "The government knew that they [kidnapped IDF reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser] were no longer alive. They figured that [child-killer Samir] Kuntar had been in prison for many years, and went for the deal... Hamas is demanding 450 heavyweight prisoners who took part in recent terrorist attacks. The memories of the victims' families are still very raw. I don't believe the government can go ahead with this," he told The Jerusalem Post. |
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