Israel this week underscored its readiness to release Shi’ite prisoners as part of a deal to win the freedom of Western hostages in Lebanon, as long as Israeli soldiers held by Shi’ite groups there are included.
The Israeli statement, issued by the prime minister’s spokesman, followed criticism of Israel from U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) in connection with the hostage affair.
Moynihan, in a strong statement made Sunday in Washington, called on Israel to release prisoners it is holding, saying, “Hostages held anywhere are an offense against humanity — and someone has to say it.”
In a more temperate reference in the Senate on Monday, he said, “Not every prisoner is a hostage. But prisoners held for the express purpose of trading them for persons and other advantages are hostages and should be released.”
Israel also came under implied criticism from the Senate Republican leader, Robert Dole (R-Kan.), and from the two recently released U.S. hostages, who have been urging their government to secure the release of more American captives held in Beirut.
“A hostage is a hostage and should not be held against his or her will,” Dole was reported to have said at a news conference Sunday.
TERRORISTS, NOT HOSTAGES
It was Moynihan’s strong words that apparently shook the Israeli government into issuing its statement Tuesday. Because the senator is considered one of Israel’s most consistent supporters on Capitol Hill, his outspoken criticism of Israel surprised and dismayed Israeli policy-makers.
The government’s statement reaffirmed that Israel is ready “to play its role in any move that brings about the release of all the hostages, including the Israeli prisoners and those missing in action.”
But it also took issue with Moynihan and other critics, insisting that the captives in Israel’s hands are “not hostages, but terrorists or members of terror organizations.”
The statement went on to say that Israel “fully shares the American concern for the lives and welfare of innocent people.”
Acting Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and his aides are apparently anxious to persuade U.S. and Western opinion that Israel is not being uncooperative or recalcitrant on this sensitive and emotive issue.
Shamir, who is struggling to form a new government, wants to be seen as helping the United States in the hostage predicament. He knows that a Likud-led government is likely to run into head-on collisions with Washington over its peace policy. Therefore, he is seeking areas in which he can strengthen and improve the Israeli-American relationship.
As Foreign Minister Moshe Arens put it Monday, in remarks to the Knesset, “There is no point concealing that there are differences of opinion between the United States and Israel. But such differences between friends are natural.”
The Israeli statement on the hostage question did not refer specifically to Sheik Abdul Karim Obeid, the ranking Lebanese Shi’ite cleric whom Israeli commandos apprehended in Lebanon last July. But it is clear that Obeid will be part of any prisoners-for-hostages deal.
The Israeli statement insisted, though, that there must be an Israeli component to any deal.
That is consistent with the broad national consensus here, which wants Israeli leaders first and foremost to “bring our boys back.” It is virtually unthinkable that any Israeli government could offer a gesture without receiving an Israeli quid pro quo.
Israel has six soldiers missing in Lebanon. While it is likely some of them are dead, there is good reason to believe that airman Ron Arad and soldiers Rahamim Alsheikh and Yosef Fink are still alive.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
