Source: Israel to swap Lebanon terrorist Kuntar for MIA soldiers

[oberliner]

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has concluded that Israel should swap the perpetrator of a particularly grisly terror attack for the two abducted Israel Defense Forces soldiers held in Lebanon for the past two years, a senior government official confirmed on Sunday.

Samir Kuntar is serving multiple life sentences for killing four Israelis in a 1979 infiltration of an apartment building in northern Israel. Among the dead were a 28-year-old man and his four-year-old daughter, whose head Kuntar repeatedly smashed against a rock before crushing her skull with a rifle butt.

Her mother, who was hiding in a crawl space, accidentally smothered her other daughter while trying to silence the two-year-old's cries.

The source's confirmation of the deal comes after the pro-Syrian Lebanese newspaper a-Diar on Thursday reported that Kuntar has been told to pack up his belongings and prepare to return to Beirut in the near future, possibly by the end of the month.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/992887.html

[pelsar]

1. his murders...

were particularly heinous because of the way the kids were killed: the mother smothering her own daughter to keep quiet while the terrorist searched their home...and Kuntar smashing the little 4 yr old girl's head on the rocks.....after she watched her father shot and then drowned.....

___

in the meantime, he has no remorse over what he did and he did manage to marry and divorce, get a degree all the while in prison...

[Violet_Crumble]

10. I was going to ask 'have they lost their minds?'

..but eyl beat me to it...

You've hit on the thing that makes this release different than the release of other prisoners with blood on their hands (and the link shaayecanaan provided shows that people who have done horrific things do get released under agreements and exchanges in conflicts). The difference in this case is that this crime was so henious for the reasons you described that someone who could do something like that to a small child lacks the most basic of human empathy and there's absolutely no indication that he's developed any since the murders. I hope these reports are wrong and he won't be exchanged and if they are considering doing it, I hope they have the guts to front up to the mother who lost her husband and children in such a cruel and inhumane way and get her reaction to their plans...

[eyl]

14. There's another issue

because if this report is true we're trading him for no need.

I mislike releasing him under any circumstances, but I could stomach it if it men the return - alive - of Ron Arad or Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. But as it stands, we don't even know if they're alive! Israel should have insisted that there would not be any discussion of exchanging prisoners without the Red Cross ascertaining their status. And let's not forget that Israel is (was?) holding several Hizbullah prisoners from the latest conflict - if Nasrallah refuses to settle for them, let him explain to his public why he's refusing to let the prisoners come home for the sake of a Druze child murderer.

[Dick Dastardly]

15. I to would have to ask 'have they lost their minds?'

I am against the death penalty but this guy is the type that wants me to make an exception.

You are very correct that this guy is different than most others who have blood on their hands. This guy should never see freedom again and should not be part of any deal ever.

It makes me sick when I read this

Samir Kuntar
Kuntar, then turned his attention towards the frightened little 4-year old. He took his rifle and then swung it across the little toddler's head, knocking her to the ground. As little Einat was knocked to the ground, she was screaming and crying hysterically "mommy daddy help me," while thrashing her little legs around in the sand. But unfortunately Einat was alone, and no one was there to save her. Kuntar then dragged the little toddler a couple of feet to the closest rock he could find, this was while she was begging him not to hurt her. Kuntar, then laid her head down on a rock, with the intention of crushing it with the butt of his rifle. Einat, instinctively covered her head with her little arms, Kuntar struggled with the little toddler until he finally managed to clear her arms out of the way so that he could aim for her head. Once her arms were out of the way, Kuntar proceeded on beating her on the head over and over with the butt of his rifle, and repeatedly stomping on her little body as hard as he could as well, until blood rushed out of her ears and mouth, and her little cries faded away as she was knocked into unconsciousness. Then, to ensure she was dead, Kuntar continued on beating her over the head, as hard as he could, several more times until her skull was crushed and she was dead.<1>


Support for Samir Kuntar
Although Kuntar has admitted his complicity in war crimes, many times and expressed pride about the killings, he has many supporters in Lebanon and Israel (among leftists and Peace Now brigades in particular) who maintain that he is innocent. Other supporters, alternately, claim that the Harans (including the four year-old child) were legitimate targets and consider Kuntar to be a political prisoner.

more
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samir_Kuntar

[eyl]

2. Have they lost their minds?!? n/t

[pelsar]

4. the trade....

probably for the bodies of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev....i think this trade for bodies has gotten a bit out of hand in israel.....

[shaayecanaan]

7. It happens sometimes...

Not all of the people in the Irish prisoner exchanges were nice chaps either:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shankill_Butchers

[Behind the Aegis]

3. This is bullshit!

Olmert keeps making mistake after mistake. Israel is to get two more bodies for a live murder? Even if both aren't dead, (I believe at least one is) this is a foul trade.

[Vegasaurus]

12. All of these events are paving the way for Bibi

appeasing terrorists is not working for Olmert.

[Sezu]

5. It's a dispicable thing. I will however be interested in seeing

who in Lebanon will offer up tributes to this baby killer.

[rockymountaindem]

6. That's crazy

Maybe Hezbollah should offer some proof that the two IDF men are even alive. Trading that animal for two dead bodies wouldn't be good for anybody.

[oberliner]

8. Report: Hezbollah to return MIAs Goldwasser, Regev next week

Military sources in Lebanon expect Hezbollah next week to return to Israel abducted Israel Defense Forces soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev as part of an exchange deal, the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir reported on Monday.

According to the report, the deal will take place between June 20-25.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/993241.html

[notfullofit]

9. I'll believe it when I see it. nt

[LeftishBrit]

11. I hope the two soldiers are alive and get back safely...

I certainly don't think that Kuntar deserves release. He is not only a terrorist; he is a true war criminal.

[Violet_Crumble]

13. ANALYSIS / Hezbollah's price to return soldiers is not impossibly high

I totally disagree with the statement that the price to pay for the return of those two soldiers is a relatively low one, but I thought I'd post this to get reactions to what's said in the article...




Out of the plethora of diplomatic-security issues keeping Prime Minister Ehud Olmert busy these days, the discussions on the freeing of the two IDF soldiers held by Hezbollah appear to be the most promising. The price being demanded for the the return of Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser is not impossibly high, and the chances that the deal can be done are reasonable. What is no less important, is that a deal could be struck in a relatively short period of time, perhaps to the point of bringing to an "end" the Lebanese affair at a date near the second anniversary of the rushed decision to go to war.

As his cabinet ceased to function, and while he waits for the crucial cross-examination of Morris Talansky in court next month, bringing home the two soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah appears to be a goal that can be achieved, from Olmert's point of view. The same cannot be said right now about a deal with Hamas for Gilad Shalit, or about the renewed talks with Syria, and certainly not about a final-status agreement with the Palestinian Authority.

The parameters of the Goldwasser-Regev deal were laid out in the media a month ago: the release of Nassim Nasar, a Lebanese man convicted of espionage, after he served out his sentence (this took place on June 1); the return of the four Hezbollah men captured during the Second Lebanon War; and the release of the Nahariya killer, Samir Kuntar. Even though it is not said explicitly or officially, it is easy to understand that this price is relatively low, and that both sides recognize that it is not a deal that involves the freeing of living soldiers in exchange for the six Lebanese. The Achilles heel of the deal is Kuntar, whom Israel insisted on keeping in prison as a bargaining chip for information on the fate of the missing navigator Ron Arad - what used to be referred to as the second part of the 2004 deal that led to the release of Elhanan Tennenbaum.


Yedioth Aharonoth reported Saturday that Olmert will meet Monday with the family of Ron Arad to discuss with them his thinking about the deal that is developing - which would be tantamount to Israel giving up on resolving the Arad mystery. The leak appears to be an attempt to prepare public opinion ahead of a deal that would include Kuntar's release. However, it seems that at the PM's Bureau they forgot to coordinate the details with the family, which learned about the meeting with Olmert through the article in Yedioth. In any case, the cost in public opinion will not be low: The Arad family will reiterate its argument that Ron was abandoned by the state - but this is a price that Olmert seems willing to pay.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/992987.html