PA Minister: Shalit deal should have released prisoners with longer sentences and given preference to sick prisoners
In October 2011, the Israeli government agreed to release 1,027 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prison in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been held hostage by Hamas for more than 5 years.
"Issa Karake, Minister of Prisoners' Affairs… said: The [Shalit prisoner exchange] deal was factional, party-based, overflowed with sadness, improvised, painful and full of mistakes. For the past five years they've been negotiating just to achieve the result of releasing prisoners who have just a few months left, and criminal prisoners, instead of prisoners who have been behind bars for more than a quarter of a century. Furthermore, this deal gave no preference to prisoners who are sick, in addition to the fact that they don't know the real number of female prisoners because they dealt with them separately. This deal should have been superior and symbolic, so that it could have become a historical agreement, but the expectations were inconsistent with the reality."
"Issa Karake, Minister of Prisoners' Affairs… said: The [Shalit prisoner exchange] deal was factional, party-based, overflowed with sadness, improvised, painful and full of mistakes. For the past five years they've been negotiating just to achieve the result of releasing prisoners who have just a few months left, and criminal prisoners, instead of prisoners who have been behind bars for more than a quarter of a century. Furthermore, this deal gave no preference to prisoners who are sick, in addition to the fact that they don't know the real number of female prisoners because they dealt with them separately. This deal should have been superior and symbolic, so that it could have become a historical agreement, but the expectations were inconsistent with the reality."