Israel holds crucial meeting on prisoner swap
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his top ministers on Monday debated whether to approve an emotionally charged deal to trade 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for an Israeli soldier held by Gaza militants for more than three years.
Netanyahu and six ministers had met three times on Sunday, including a session that lasted late into the night. With the group divided over the proposed deal, Netanyahu could well bring the final decision to a vote in his full Cabinet.
At a protest tent outside the prime minister’s official residence, dozens of demonstrators carried cardboard cutouts of the captured soldier, 23-year-old Sgt. Gilad Schalit, and urged Cabinet ministers to wrap up an agreement.