From the Israel Archives |
Coverage of the Events since October 2000
Hände weg von Israel und Islam!
Shabak Warns Of Disastrous Consequences Of Prisoner Release (IDF In Pinstripes)
2005-02-06
Israel Radio defense correspondent Carmella Menashe reported this morning that there is wall-to-wall opposition in the Shabak (ISS) to large prisoner releases.
Opposition includes not only the senior officials but also the people working in the field.
The Shabak officials cite two major consequences of the release program:
A decline in deterrence: terrorists considering action will assume that if they are caught that they can expect to be released in a future round of releases rather than remain behind bars.
A significant increase in skill level of the terrorists in the field: the terrorists receive considerable training from their colleagues during the course of their time in prison in the planning and execution of terrorist attacks. Israel's experience with past releases is that the released terrorists substantially strengthened and improved the ability of the terror groups they returned to to carry out attacks against Israel.
The Shabak officials warn that the release would mean that the Herculean efforts of the Shabak to capture the terrorists would be for naught and suggest that Israel wait to see what happens with PA compliance before taking this step.
While the Shabak position is anchored in considerations that are tied to its role (their consideration of the operational impact), the position of senior IDF officials favoring the release of the top pre-Oslo terrorists presented by Menashe appears to be based solely on diplomatic considerations - a return to the Oslo era confusion of roles during which IDF officials donned pinstripes rather than fatigues.
Source: IMRA – Independent Media Review and Analysis
