Olmert: Hope deal with Hizbullah will lead to captives' release
Prime minister tells families of Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev government he views Monday's swap with Hizbullah part of broader deal for soldiers' return home
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert spoke with the families of the two IDF soldiers kidnapped by Hizbullah in 2006 and said he hoped Monday's swap with Hizbullah would lead to "positive developments in the negotiations, which are sensitive and complex."
Olmert said the government considered the exchange part of a broader deal with Hizbullah to bring the Israeli soldiers home.
Miki Goldwasser, Ehud's mother, said the deal was a trust-building step that could further negotiations for the release of her son and Eldad Regev.
"The State has proven that its intentions are serious. Now it is Hizbullah's turn and the turn of the families of the Lebanese prisoners to push for negotiations," she said.
The negotiations on the deal, in which Hizbullah returned the body of an Israeli who drowned in the Mediterranean in 2005 in exchange for the bodies of two fighters and a Hizbullah prisoner, were conducted over the course of several months.
Last bargaining chip
Initial information regarding the possibility that the body of Gabriel Dwait was in Hizbullah's possession surfaced several months ago. According to the information received, Lebanese fishermen pulled the body from the sea and transferred it to Hizbullah.
Israel decided to pursue a deal with Hizbullah only after receiving documents confirming Dwait's identity.
Following lengthy negotiations, during which Ofer Dekel, the Prime Minister's Office special representative regarding the return of the three kidnapped soldiers, traveled to Germany several times, an outline of the deal was agreed upon.
The deal was mediated by a German intelligence official who works under the authority of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Israel conditioned the implementation of the deal on the disclosure of additional information on the three soldiers who are still being held captive in Lebanon. According to Lebanese officials, Israel received information on missing navigator Ron Arad.
Yuval Arad, daughter of captive IAF navigator Ron Arad and his brother, Chen, left for Germany Monday in an attempt to stop the release of Kazem Darabi – a senior Iranian intelligence officer being held in Germany.
The Iranian officer is considered the last bargaining chip available in order to get any information about Ron Arad's fate.
Yuval and Chen Arad are scheduled to meet Monica Hermes, Germany's attorney general, on Tuesday – the 21st anniversary of Arad's captivity.
