Pre-military academy students urge PM to reconsider Schalit agreement

Pre-military academy stu

By YAAKOV KATZ
Students from six leading religious and secular pre-military academies sent separate letters on Tuesday to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak urging them to reconsider the planned release of nearly 1,000 Palestinian terrorists in exchange for Gilad Schalit. At the religious Bnei David Academy in the settlement of Eli, for example, students wrote that they held a vote and arrived at the conclusion that captive soldiers should not be released "at any price." "This view is based on a long-term perspective and concern for Israel's security," wrote the students, who are scheduled to get inducted next year. "Israel's experience teaches us that the mass release of prisoners, especially those with blood on their hands, can pose a clear and present danger to many Israelis and boost the morale of these terrorist organizations." Students from a secular academy in the Upper Galilee wrote that "as citizens who will don uniforms in a year, we feel that the state is obligated to bring back Gilad Schalit and every other MIA, but not at any price." Students from the religious Atzmona academy, formerly based in Gush Katif, wrote that while they share the Schalit family's pain, they trust the government "to look at the big picture" when considering the release of hundreds of terrorists. "On the eve of our induction we are shocked to hear of the plan to release arch-terrorists who have already committed murder and likely will attack the state and its citizens again in the future," the Atzmona students wrote.