"Israeli" press criticizes swap deal with Hizbullah
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Source: AFP, 16-07-2008
‘Israeli' newspapers voiced sharp criticism on Wednesday of a prisoner exchange deal with Hizbullah, fearing it had sealed the Lebanese militant group's victory over ‘Israel'.
"The Hizbullah leader [Hassan Nasrallah] will entrench his image as the only Arab leader who fought against ‘Israel' and defeated it," the Maariv tabloid said, referring to the 2006 Lebanon war in which ‘Israel' tried but failed to recover the two soldiers whose bodies Hizbullah finally handed over on Wednesday.
"No one except for him - neither the Lebanese government, the Arab League, the UN nor the Red Cross - none of these brought home a proud Lebanese citizen, who had been rotting in an ‘Israeli' prison for 29 years," it said.
The last was a reference to Samir Kantar, a Lebanese fighter for a Palestinian resistance group, who was jailed for life for his role in a 1979 commando raid in which three ‘Israelis' were killed.
"No Arab entity before him kept ‘Israel' in suspense until the last moment, conducted tough negotiations with it and did not even reveal whether its POWs were alive," the paper said.
It was referring to Hizbullah's refusal until Wednesday's handover to confirm that the two soldiers were dead.
The ‘Israel' Hayom expressed concern that the government's willingness to exchange live prisoners for two dead soldiers would persuade any other group that seized ‘Israelis' that they did not need to keep their captives alive.
"The prisoner exchange deal sends a negative message to our enemies," the paper said, as ‘Israel' prepared to hand over four Hizbullah militants captured in the 2006 Lebanon war as well as Kantar for the two bodies.
"'Israel's' willingness to pay a real price for kidnapped soldiers who are not known with certainty to be alive, or worse, who are known to be dead, could cause the other side to think that it has no interest in keeping hostages alive, because it will receive something in return in any case."
The paper voiced concern that the exchange with Hizbullah would have a negative effect on its negotiations with the Palestinian militant group Hamas for the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, a conscript seized in a deadly cross-border raid from Gaza in June 2006.
"In the immediate aspect, today's action has a negative effect on the negotiations over Gilad Shalit," ‘Israel' Hayom said.
It said the release of Kintar, a man convicted of murdering ‘Israeli' civilians, would inevitably embolden Hamas to demand that ‘Israel' drop its longstanding refusal to release Palestinians "with Jewish blood on their hands."
"Now it is even clearer to the other side that the 'blood on the hands' restriction has also weakened, if not disappeared," it said.
"Therefore, a real risk has arisen that Hamas will try to show that it is better than Hizbullah at pressuring ‘Israel', and the negotiations with it will be more difficult."
In Lebanon, Al-Diyar daily proclaimed, "The political victory: The return of the prisoners."
‘Israeli' newspapers voiced sharp criticism on Wednesday of a prisoner exchange deal with Hizbullah, fearing it had sealed the Lebanese militant group's victory over ‘Israel'.
"The Hizbullah leader [Hassan Nasrallah] will entrench his image as the only Arab leader who fought against ‘Israel' and defeated it," the Maariv tabloid said, referring to the 2006 Lebanon war in which ‘Israel' tried but failed to recover the two soldiers whose bodies Hizbullah finally handed over on Wednesday.
"No one except for him - neither the Lebanese government, the Arab League, the UN nor the Red Cross - none of these brought home a proud Lebanese citizen, who had been rotting in an ‘Israeli' prison for 29 years," it said.
The last was a reference to Samir Kantar, a Lebanese fighter for a Palestinian resistance group, who was jailed for life for his role in a 1979 commando raid in which three ‘Israelis' were killed.
"No Arab entity before him kept ‘Israel' in suspense until the last moment, conducted tough negotiations with it and did not even reveal whether its POWs were alive," the paper said.
It was referring to Hizbullah's refusal until Wednesday's handover to confirm that the two soldiers were dead.
The ‘Israel' Hayom expressed concern that the government's willingness to exchange live prisoners for two dead soldiers would persuade any other group that seized ‘Israelis' that they did not need to keep their captives alive.
"The prisoner exchange deal sends a negative message to our enemies," the paper said, as ‘Israel' prepared to hand over four Hizbullah militants captured in the 2006 Lebanon war as well as Kantar for the two bodies.
"'Israel's' willingness to pay a real price for kidnapped soldiers who are not known with certainty to be alive, or worse, who are known to be dead, could cause the other side to think that it has no interest in keeping hostages alive, because it will receive something in return in any case."
The paper voiced concern that the exchange with Hizbullah would have a negative effect on its negotiations with the Palestinian militant group Hamas for the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, a conscript seized in a deadly cross-border raid from Gaza in June 2006.
"In the immediate aspect, today's action has a negative effect on the negotiations over Gilad Shalit," ‘Israel' Hayom said.
It said the release of Kintar, a man convicted of murdering ‘Israeli' civilians, would inevitably embolden Hamas to demand that ‘Israel' drop its longstanding refusal to release Palestinians "with Jewish blood on their hands."
"Now it is even clearer to the other side that the 'blood on the hands' restriction has also weakened, if not disappeared," it said.
"Therefore, a real risk has arisen that Hamas will try to show that it is better than Hizbullah at pressuring ‘Israel', and the negotiations with it will be more difficult."
In Lebanon, Al-Diyar daily proclaimed, "The political victory: The return of the prisoners."
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