[Al Arabiya Latest] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is prepared to release 1000 Palestinian security prisoners to free Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held captive in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip for over four years.
"The state of Israel is willing to pay a heavy price for the release of Gilad Shalit but we are not able to say it will be any price," he said.
Netanyhau said he was willing "to release a thousand prisoners" to secure the soldier's release as part of a prisoner swap deal with Hamas, the Islamist rulers of Gaza.
That is the price that I am willing to pay for the release of Gilad Shalit," he said in a televised address some four years after the soldier was snatched in a cross-border raid.
In a live address to the country, Netanyahu said all Israelis wanted Shalit back safely but the nation could not "pay any price" because past experience showed that many Palestinians released had returned to carry out attacks on Israelis.
In a campaign to pile pressure on the government to negotiate their son's release, the Shalit family on Sunday began a march on Jerusalem with their supporters and said they would camp outside the prime minister's office until Shalit came home.
Hamas wants Israel to release hundreds of prisoners, including several top militants responsible for killing scores of Israelis, but Israel has balked at some of the more notorious names on the list. |