Gilad Shalit: Daniel Taub Says Israel Has Paid 'Painful Price' For Release

Israel Has Paid 'Painful Price' For Soldier's Release, Ambassador Accepts
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The negotiated release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit from Hamas forces in the Gaza Strip in return for up to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners has been greeted with jubilation by many in Israel.

But as Israel's ambassador to the UK has accepted in an interview with The Huffington Post UK, the country has paid "a very, very painful" price for his release.

The exchange of Palestinian prisoners, some of whom are likely to have been convicted of acts of terrorism by Israel, back to Gaza has led to concerns that the deal could put civilians at risk.

The deal will also have political ramifications, both in respect of Hamas in the Gaza Strip - with whom Israel has previously said it would not negotiate - and with the Fatah leadership on the West Bank.

Daniel Taub, who was appointed the Israeli Ambassador to the United Kingdom in June 2011 was previously principal deputy legal adviser to Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and served as a legal adviser to Israel at the United Nations in New York and Geneva.

He has also been involved in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and has led the Israeli side of the Culture of Peace track of those negotiations. He has also been involved in negotiations between Israel and Syria.

As the UK ambassador for Israel what is your reaction to the news of Gilad Shalit's release after five years?

It's a very emotional day for Israelis. On the one hand Gilad Shalit coming home - every one of us has served in the army and has a kid who served in the army, and he's not just coming home to his parents Noam and Aviva, he's coming home to every one of us. After a nightmare five years in which he hasn't even seen his family.

On the other hand, in the same way that everyone is, or knows, a soldier, in Israel everyone knows a victim of terrorism unfortunately, and the price we have had to pay is a very, very painful one. And that really has been a dilemma and a struggle that the leadership of Israel has been grappling with for five years or more.

How does this transfer of prisoners sit with the assertion often made that Israel does not negotiate with Hamas?

That assertion remains intact. The fact is that the international community has come up with criteria for anybody who could be a potential partner in peace. And Hamas as a terrorist organisation hasn't renounced violence, hasn't recognised Israel, and clearly isn't in that count. On the other hand, the fact is that we have an obligation, to every one of the young men and women who are the only thing that stand between us and people who are trying to destroy us, people who are firing missiles against our towns and villages, to do everything we possibly can to ensure their safety and to bring them home. And that's really the complicated environment in which we have to operate.

This has been seen by some as a manoeuvre against Fatah - is that the case?

I don't think that is the case, the focus is quite clear that our interest is the negotiations with Abu Mazen [Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas], we've been waiting at the negotiating table for him to come back, but what it does really bring in to highlight is that for all of his attempts to claim that he is a state, or is entitled to be a state, there are significant areas including the whole of the Gaza Strip which he has no effective control of at all but are really run by Hamas according to very different rules. And that's something we have to take into consideration.

Does this release of up to 1,000 prisoners make Israelis more or less safe?

The fact is that the arrangement hasn't been fully revealed yet, but they were approved and supported by the heads of all of the security authorities including the Ministry of Defence, the chiefs of staff, the intelligence heads and so on.

But you're right, this is one of the aspects of the deal which is very difficult for Israelis. Certainly the hope would be that with international pressure people who are held captive could be released without this sort of arrangement. That's not the case, which is the reason that we have to make such tough decisions.

The Hamas leader Khaled Mashal has said in a televised address that if Israel would release 1,000 prisoners then it would be prepared to release 8,000. He warned that Palestinians will do whatever it takes to make this happen. How will the Israeli people react to that?

I think one of the things that this development does highlight is that Hamas is under pressure itself at the moment. Its popularity in the Gaza strip has been waning, and the fact is that the Arab Spring has also put it under pressure as the people of the Gaza strip can look abroad and see other peoples claiming all sorts of basic rights and freedoms that they feel they deserve as well.

I think that's one of the reasons that it's been more receptive. And it doesn't surprise me that it's dong everything that it can to bolster its credibility. Unfortunately we're talking about a surreal situation in which bolstering its credibility means increasing its venomous rhetoric against Israel.

Is there any chance that this transfer of prisoners could represent a move towards greater peace between Israel and the Palestinians?

The fact is that as far as peace is concerned we genuinely think that the only way to move towards peace is for Israel and for the Palestinian leadership, which here does mean Abu Mazen, to sit around the negotiating table and start tackling the tough issues that need to be part of a future agreement. That's the thing that needs to happen.

So I don't think this is a step towards peace, I think a step towards peace would be a Palestinian return to the negotiating table.

We've seen scenes of people in Israel celebrating this news, but when the dust has settled will they see the transfer of 1,000 prisoners for a single soldier as a fair deal?

I think we're coming back to the same dilemma all the way through, and that is one of the things that the leadership has to take into account when it makes these extraordinarily difficult decisions - what the likely scenarios for the future are. And there are no danger free options here.