The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, chaired by MK Boaz Bismuth (Likud), convened on Tuesday for a debate on the topic of “Monitoring those freed in deals for release of terrorists.” The debate was held at the request of one third of the committee members, led by MK Limor Sonn Har Melech (Otzma Yehudit), who was joined by MKs Nissim Vaturi (Likud), Mishel Buskila (New Hope—The United Right), Meir Cohen (Yesh Atid), Tzvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism), Sharon Nir (Yisrael Beitenu), Osher Shkalim, Tally Gotliv, Amit Halevi and Ariel Kallner (Likud).
In their request, the Members of Knesset wrote that they wished to conduct a debate on the defense establishment’s ability to monitor and supervise those freed in deals for release of terrorists, in light of the security and public risk posed by the release of thousands of terrorists.
The committee members stated further in their letter to the committee chair, “We are turning to you from deep concern for the security of Israel’s citizens, and from a moral and public obligation to ensure that the State of Israel is taking all necessary measures to prevent these terrorists from returning to harming its citizens.
“In the latest deals, about 4,000 terrorists were freed, some of whom have blood on their hands. The release of these thousands of terrorists raises a real and immediate concern of renewed initiatives to commit terrorist attacks,” they wrote.
MK Sonn Har Melech said in the debate, “On this issue, regrettably, I am not talking about a theoretical matter, but rather about my own personal experience, as a warning to the general public in the State of Israel. The cell commander who murdered my husband and many others said in the military court, “You’re a weak nation and we are strong.” Despite the fact that he was sentenced to seven life sentences plus 20 years, in the end he was released after about two years. He knew what he was saying when he said that he didn’t pay attention to the years imposed upon him by the court.
“The difficult facts indicate that we are required to monitor these terrorists. Statistics show that the terrorist recidivism rate of these released individuals stands at 80%.
“In the latest releases, thousands of terrorists were freed, and we all understand the magnitude of the threat. We want to ensure that those who were freed will not return to the cycle of terrorism and that no more blood will be shed,” said MK Sonn Har Melech.
The first part of the meeting was held as an open debate, whereas the second part was classified. In the classified debate, the committee members heard a briefing from representatives of the IDF and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), in which the statistics were presented on the period from the Shalit deal until today, with segmentation and trends. Additionally, the IDF and Shin Bet officials elaborated on ways of coping with the issue, and answered questions from the committee members at length. Committee Chair MK Bismuth announced at the conclusion of the debate that the committee would continue to monitor and supervise, and said that a follow-up debate on the issue would be held.
In the open portion of the debate, Chemi Goldin, the brother of the late Lt. Hadar Goldin, asked to address the committee, saying, “The situation today is simple. The first task in the agreement, which was also the precondition, is to free all the hostages, and they were not freed. A great deal more than 72 hours have passed, and Hamas has broken the agreement, meaning that we are being deceived again. I call this Hamas’s war of revival; that is the current situation of my brother. According to reports, even when 200 terrorists are caught in areas that are under our control, a question arises whether to free them.
“My message is simple—in the Middle East, where we sit, there are two concepts—either honor or disgrace. We are at the [stage of] the first clause, which states that all forty-eight hostages will return, and that is the task at hand. If there are 200 terrorists in a tunnel in Gaza, then let them give back my brother first. There is a debt here towards my family and towards the rest of the hostages,” Goldin said.
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