24.01.2004 HAARETZ 1. CAPTIVES DEAL CONCLUDED; TANNENBAUM AND SOLDIERS BODIES TO BE RETURNED THIS WEEK. Exchanges in Frankfurt on Thursday; DNA tests on bodies to be performed there as well. 500 Palestinians, five Syrians, three Sudanese, three Moroccans, one Libyan, one British and one German to be returned. 23 Lebanese – including bargaining cards Dirani and Obeid – to be released as well. Israel: Kuntar to be released only if tangible proof of Ron Arads fate is received. International committee to search for information on Arad; will finish its work in 2-3 months. Government to publish list of prisoners on Tuesday to enable appeals to High Court of Justice. German mediator: Iran pressed Hizballah to agree to deal. Israel to hand over maps of mines it planted in Beka Valley and southern Lebanon. At Rosh Hanikra: Bodies of 83 Lebanese who were killed in operational activity to be returned.
2. The families: HAIM AVRAHAM: THE PAIN IS JUST BEGINNING. 3. APPEL AFFAIR: FILE AGAINST OLMERT TO APPARENTLY BE CLOSED. Industry, Trade and Employment Minister will not participate in todays vote on appointment of Attorney General; Sharon has yet to decide if he will vote. HATZOFEH 1. Dirani and Obeid – to go free; Kuntar to remain in prison. CAPTIVES DEAL: WITHOUT INFORMATION ON RON ARAD. Among those to be released – German terrorist and Hizballah member Steven Smyrik. German mediator Uhrlau, at press conference: Deal to be completed this week. Israel to receive Col. (res.) Elhanan Tannenbaum and bodies of three abducted soldiers. Arad family outraged: Nobody updated us on completion of deal. 2. ISRAELI OFFICIALS: KUNTAR WILL NOT BE RELEASED UNTIL INFORMATION IS RECEIVED ON FATE OF RON ARAD. 3. REACTIONS IN POLITICAL ESTABLISHMENT: DEAL LIABLE TO ENCOURAGE ADDITIONAL KIDNAPPINGS. 4. ELIMINATED: TWO PALESTINIANS WHO OBSERVED IDF IN GAZA STRIP. Palestinians claim: Observers help cars to bypass IDF roadblocks around Nablus. MAARIV 1. The pain and the price: 435 terrorists to be released. AND THE BOYS WILL COME HOME. (
). German-mediated deal signed between Israel and Hizballah: Israel to release more than 400 Palestinian prisoners and several dozen foreigners – and will receive bodies of Benny Avraham, Adi Avitan and Omar Sawaid, and Elhanan Tannenbaum. Samir Kuntar, Nahariya terrorist, to remain in prison until information on Ron Arad is handed over. Soldiers coffins to be received in state ceremony – Tannenbaum will apparently be taken for questioning. 2. EXCHANGES: ON THURSDAY, NEAR MUNICH. 3. SHARON: I AM WORKING WITH IRANIANS ON RESOLVING RON ARAD MYSTERY. 4. TODAY: ATTORNEY MENI MAZUZ TO BE APPOINTED ATTORNEY GENERAL. 5. SON IS IDF FIGHTER, PALESTINIAN FATHER IS BEING EXPELLED. Appeals to High Court of Justice: Dont expel me to Tulkarm. 6. JUDY COLLAPSED, SILVAN RETURNED FROM SUMMIT. FMs wife fainted in Switzerland. YEDIOT AHRONOT 1. Schedule: Captives exchange deal to be completed by Thursday. German mediator: Ron Arad affair will end in two-to-three months. COMING HOME. After three years in Hizballahs grip: Elhanan Tannenbaum and bodies of three soldiers to be returned to Israel. Murderer Samir Kuntar not to be released until tangible evidence about Ron Arad is received. Families of abducted soldiers: Our pain is only beginning. 2. THE BIG STORM: KINNERET RISES BY 26 CENTIMETERS IN 1.5 DAYS. ______________________________ EDITORIALS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS Yediot Ahronot says that, Against Hizballah, Israel has proven that it mainly understands the language of force, and adds that, The Hizballah leadership can rest on its laurels; in negotiations with Israel, it seems that kidnapping and murder are effective methods of blackmail. While the editors aver that, The exchange deal with Hizballah is, therefore, bad and flawed, they add that, Nevertheless, it had to be carried out, because it, is an outstanding No alternative deal. The paper believes that, Israel, as a democratic country, is not entitled to abandon the citizen Tannenbaum to the mercies of Hizballah murderers and cannot remain indifferent to the pain of the families of the murdered soldiers. Refusing to implement the exchange was never even considered; the bargaining was merely over the price, and the price that was determined in the end is not unreasonably high. The editors assert that: Obeid and Dirani should have been returned to Lebanon long ago, after it became clear that their abductions did not further the search for Ron Arad, and that their being in an Israeli prison was only liable to prod Hizballah into kidnapping Israelis as hostages (as it, in fact, did). The paper speculates that whatever gains Hizballah derives from the deal in the Lebanese sphere will be short-lived due to the organizations steadily eroding image as a liability to Lebanons development and progress. The editors conclude: The exchange deal with Hizballah strengthens one of Israels bitterest enemies in the world and endangers its deterrent ability. Thus from a security point-of-view; but from a moral point-of-view, no Israeli government could and would make a decision other than that which the Sharon government made; yes to the deal, with all the reservations. Not because it is the correct deal, but because rejecting it was out of the question. Hatzofeh discusses the war against organized crime in Israel.
