Gilad Schalit returns to Israel
Gilad Schalit returns to IsraelFlash 90

Ten years after the deal to free IDF soldier Gilad Schalit from Hamas captivity, former Cabinet Secretary Oved Yehezkel claims that the deal was a mistake and that if the decision had been up to him Schalit would not have been returned under the same conditions.

1,027 Arab prisoners were released from Israeli prisons in return for Schalit, including terrorists responsible for the murder of 569 Israelis.

"What ultimately influenced Gilad Schalit's return home was the public pressure," Yehezkel said in an interview with Benny Teitelbaum on the Kan network.

"This is a decision - and I know that maybe the Schalit family will hear me now and I wish them the best - if I were in office I would not approve the deal. It is a deal that claimed lives, which should not have been approved solely because of public pressure."

Teitelbaum asked: "Would you leave him in Hamas captivity for fear that the freed terrorists would kill more?"

"If I was making the decisions, I would have left him in Hamas captivity and not approved the deal. Leadership is not just a measure of compassion, but the common good," Yehezkel replied without hesitation.