'Price we're paying for the deal is unbearable. Disaster'

 

Adv. Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, founder of the Shurat HaDin organization, which fights terrorism in the legal arena, spoke to Dudu Saada.

"Five hundred families of terror victims have asked us to represent them in a multi-billion shekel lawsuit against Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, by deducting the money transferred to them – the Palestinian Authority's budget is 12 billion shekels. There is a precedent of such a lawsuit, when families of victims in the Second Intifada fought in the courts for twenty years, and won,” says Darshan-Leitner.

“Finance Minister in Naftali Bennett's government Avigdor Liberman, along with Defense Minister Benny Gantz, refused to transfer the money for fear of collapsing the Palestinian Authority. On one of my flights, I sat next to Gantz and we talked, and he said to me, 'Nitsana, you're right, but it's complicated, we'll talk about it when we get back to Israel...' Then the government fell and he was saved from making a decision. Bezalel Smotrich was appointed Finance Minister and the first thing he did when he took office was to pay 130 million shekels to the victims of terror,” she added.

On the hostage deal, Darshan-Leitner says: "Hamas is on the verge of collapse. We see that if the IDF is not in Gaza, Hamas finds a way to reestablish themselves very quickly. We entered this war not only to rescue the hostages, but to eradicate Hamas, and it will not happen if we pour new prisoners into it and withdraw from Gaza. If we leave the Philadelphi Route and allow the return of a million Palestinian residents to the northern Gaza Strip, we will lose all our achievements, and this is not what our dear soldiers who sacrificed their lives on the soil of Gaza fought for."

"We cannot achieve a complete victory this way. We should have eradicated Hamas a long time ago. Every day we pay with the blood of our soldiers because we don't stay there continuously. If the Chief of Staff can't do it, let him leave and someone else can do the job. It is inconceivable that Israel will have a terrorist organization on its border, that continues to fire missiles and murder IDF soldiers, and continues to pose a threat to the country. We have to put an end to this,” concludes Darshan-Leitner.