Israel agrees to Hezbollah prisoner deal

by Barry Artiste | June 30, 2008 at 05:00 am

151 views | 0 Recommendations | 0 comments

Opinion
Barry Artiste, now Public Contributor
Israels swap of a Lebanese Man, Samir Kanter who crushed the head of a 4 year old girl to death with a rifle butt in exchange for the bodies of two dead soldiers, certainly shows Israels softer side, of course if it were me, I would do the same, but Samir Kanter would also be in a body bag as well.

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli government agreed yesterday to free Samir Kantar, a Lebanese gunman who committed of one of the grisliest attacks in Israel's history, in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers killed by Hezbollah guerrillas.

The German-mediated deal closed a chapter from Israel's inconclusive war against the Lebanese militant group two years ago. But critics warned the deal's heavy price for Israel could offer militant groups an even greater incentive to kill captive soldiers.

In Lebanon, Hezbollah declared victory and planned celebrations.

Israeli officials said the exchange could take place as early as next week and would likely occur in Germany.

Israel's cabinet voted 22-3 to approve a deal that will see the return of the bodies of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, captured by Hezbollah in a July 2006 cross-border raid that sparked a vicious month-long war.