Vice Premier Moshe Ya’alon and National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau, who
along with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, were the only ministers to vote
against the Gilad Schalit deal, warned it could lead to murders of
Israelis.
As Lieberman said in a statement he released Tuesday night,
Ya’alon reiterated that he voted against the deal with a heavy heart. His office
released the speech he made to the
cabinet Tuesday night in which he explained
his vote.
RELATED:Gilad Schalit expected back in Israel on Tuesday Schalits arrive home in Mitzpe Hila after meeting Peres “My heart says yes, but my head says no,” Ya’alon
said.
“This issue has ethical, national, security and strategic aspects.
On the one hand, we have a responsibility for Gilad – the need to save his life
and redeem a captive. But to bring about his release, we would have to
free 1,000 terrorists. From experience, we know that the terrorists we release
will lead to the murder of dozens and maybe hundreds of
Israelis.”
Ya’alon noted that the terrorists released in the 1985 Jibril
Deal led the first intifada and were directly responsible for the deaths of 178
Israelis and indirectly for many more.
“[The Schalit deal] would be a
victory for Hamas and a surrender to terror,” he said. “It would give new spirit
to jihadist extremists and harm our deterrence. We are obligated to the life of
Gilad Schalit and to return him home, but we are also obligated to protect the
citizens of Israel.”
Ya’alon told the cabinet that once a decision would
be made, he would support it out of collective authority as a
minister.
Landau told Army Radio that freeing terrorists in past deals
led to Schalit’s kidnapping and could lead to future kidnappings and more
victims.
“It proves terror pays, and it’s a big victory for Hamas,” he
said.
“Our deterrence and our legal system have been
harmed.”
Landau said he considered requests that the decision be made
unanimously by the cabinet, but rejected them. However, he said once there was a
decision, it must be implemented, and he intended to “leave politics on the
side.”
Opposition leader Tzipi Livni expressed support for the
decision.
She said she was happy for the Schalit family, but that the
families of terror victims must also be embraced.
“After Gilad’s return,
there needs to be a serious and deep discussion about what would happen if, God
forbid, there is another such incident in the future,” Livni said. “I hope that
whatever is decided will never be required.”
