
JERUSALEM, October 12. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet voted early Wednesday morning to approve a prisoner swap that will see Gilad Shalit, the IDF soldier who has been in Hamas captivity for the last five years, return to Israel.
Deal passes 26-3 in cabinet vote; Israel to release 1,000 prisoners in two-stage process, including 1/3 serving life sentences; Netanyahu: “My heart is with the families of terror victims.”
Exactly 1,934 days after Hamas kidnapped Gilad Schalit near Kerem Shalom on the border with Gaza, the cabinet met in a dramatic meeting Tuesday night, approving a deal for his release.
Twenty-six ministers voted to approve the prisoner exchange deal signed with Hamas, with only three voting against the deal. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya’alon and National Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau voted against the deal.