Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the cabinet: "This moment is not easy for me. It is not easy for the ministers. It is not easy especially for the families, the bereaved families, whose heart I understand. But there are moments in which tough decisions must be made for the good of the country and this is one of those moments."
Naftali Bennett, leader of Jewish Home Party, opposed the deal. He said: "Terrorists must be killed, not released. In every one of my previous positions, I fought against releasing terrorists, and I have no intention of acting any differently when I'm in the cabinet. Let my hand be cut off should I vote in favour of releasing terrorists. We support the peace process, but no country in the world would agree to release murderers as a gift."
A ministerial committee to manage the release will be comprised of Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Mr Netanyahu, Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon, Science Minister Yaakov Peri and Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch.
