
 
 
Weeks of  speculation on a proposal in the making for Israel to free hundreds of  terrorists for the safe return of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit are at a  climax as an emotionally taut nation takes sides.
The mini-Cabinet of  seven ministers met Sunday night for the third time in one day on the issue,  without reaching a decision, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will bring up  the proposal before the full Cabinet at 9:30 Monday morning.
The  mini-Cabinet includes members whom Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has  depended on to keep discussions secret, without leaks to the media. However,  Channel One television reported that Prime Minister Netanyahu is against  the proposal while Defense Minister Ehud Barak favors it.
The family of  Shalit and relatives of terror victims continued to take opposite sides on the  principle of Israel risking more terrorist attacks and kidnappings by freeing  terrorists. The Almagor terror victims association repeatedly has pointed out  that previous releases of terrorists have resulted in the murder of at least 179  Israelis at the hands of the same terrorists who promised not to return to  violence.
The family of Shalit made another emotional appeal to Prime  Minister Netanyahu Sunday, expressing fears that a rejection of any proposal  would leave their son to be “Ron Arad number two,” referring to the plane  navigator whose fate has been unknown since his plane was downed over Lebanon  more than two decades ago.
Both Almagor and the family of Shalit send  letters on Sunday to the Prime Minister. Terror victims' families reminded him  that his brother, Yoni Netanyahu, gave up his life while leading elite commandos  to free kidnap victims in the dramatic rescue at Entebbe in 1976. 
“Your  brother rendered the highest sacrifice in order to defend the State of Israel  against terror,” they wrote in a letter. “If you choose to surrender to terror,  what is the significance of Yoni’s action? What is the significance for other  soldiers and their families? If you surrender, who will be blamed for the river  of blood that will be spilled? Don’t disappoint us and the people who voted for  you.”
An equally emotional appeal by Noam and Aviva Shalit, parents of  the kidnapped solider, included the plea “not to repeat the tragedy of Ron Arad.  G-d forbid we [shou add to this wound which was seared onto Israeli society, and  has seen sorrow for generations,” they wrote.
The seven ministers in the  mini-Cabinet are reportedly divided. One of the members, Foreign Minister  Avigdor Lieberman, chairman of the Israel Our Home (Yisrael Beiteinu) parry, has  vowed that terrorists with blood on their hands will not be freed. Liked  Minister Benny Begin also is said to agree with him.
Deputy Prime  Minister Dan Meridor of the Likud has backed freeing prisoners. The rumor mill  continues to spin with different versions of what is being considered, but no  one has officially confirmed or denied several conflicting reports.