The Times of Israel reports: Education Minister Naftali Bennett on Thursday said Israel should start kidnapping senior Hamas members to gain leverage in its bit to secure the release of two Israeli civilians and two bodies of IDF soldiers held in the Gaza Strip.
The Jewish Home party leader has been strident in his criticism of the government’s failure to bring back the remains of Lt. Hadar Goldin and Sgt. Oron Shaul (pictured), and voted against a rapprochement deal with Turkey that was criticized for not guaranteeing pressure from Ankara on Hamas.
“My policies are consistent over the years,” he said in a Radio Darom interview on Thursday, “complete opposition to disproportionate deals to free terrorists, and certainly in exchange for bodies.”
“Once, in a situation like this, we would go and kidnap from the other side,” Bennett, a former commando, said, apparently suggesting the kidnapping of senior Hamas officials.
In the past, he said, Israel would kidnap Syrian officers in order to gain diplomatic bargaining chips. Bennett said the military shouldn’t sit on its hands and “wait for the release of prisoners. We need to be aggressive and operate for ourselves.”
Read more here.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.