Gilad Shalit To Return To Israel Within Hours After High Court Rejects Bereaved Families' Petitions

[Purveyor]

The High Court of Justice rejected numerous petitions against the execution of the Gilad Shalit prisoner swap deal on Monday, effectively removing the last legal obstacle en route to the release of the abducted Israel Defense Forces solder.

Earlier Monday, Israelis opposed to the Shalit prisoner exchange deal asked the High Court to block the release of the jailed Palestinians in return for the captive soldier.
IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, captured by Hamas in 2006

Four petitions were submitted to the court, filed by the Almagor Terror Victims Association and relatives of Israelis killed in Palestinian attacks. Judging from similar appeals in prisoner exchange deals in the past, however, the court is unlikely to intervene in what it considers a political and security issue.

In her verdict rejecting those petitions later Monday, Supreme Court President Dorit Beinish wrote that Monday's High Court session was "one of the most loaded and unnerving debates to come before this court."

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http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/gilad-shalit-to-return-to-israel-within-hours-after-high-court-rejects-bereaved-families-petitions-1.390500

[DesertFlower]

1. i',m not happy about the releasing of

so many palestinian prisoners, but i'm happy for shalit and his family.

[Scurrilous]

2. Gilad Shalit reunites with his family

After soldier's return to Israel, Gilad Shalit finally meets his loved ones at Tel Nof air base. Grandfather Zvi Shalit: 'Gilad spoke very quietly and said he was tired and wanted to go to sleep'.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4136491,00.html

<snip>

"Less than an hour after the IDF soldier's release and return to Israel, an IAF helicopter transported him to Tel Nof air base in central Israel, where he met his loved ones who worked tirelessly for his release: parents Noam and Aviva, siblings Yoel and Hadas and grandfather Tzvi.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also met with Shalit at the base. He told him: "Welcome back to the State of Israel. It's so good to have you home."

Zvi Shalit, Gilad's grandfather, said his grandson was in "better condition that we feared." Describing the family reunion at the Tel Nof base, he said: "Gilad spoke very quietly and said he was tired and wanted to go to sleep."