Negotiating with terrorists: Hostage families struggle with Hamas deals

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Hillel Fuld’s first reaction in discovering that his brother Ari’s murderer was about to be released in a Hamas hostage deal was: “This is unbelievable.”

In February, the bodies of four Israeli hostages, and six living, were reportedly exchanged for more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners — one of them is presumed to be Palestinian Khalil Jabarin, who was 17 when he stabbed 45-year-old Ari to death, in September, 2018.

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“Truth is, I think we all had in the back of our heads that this was a possibility, but I don’t think any of us wanted to face that,” Hillel said of his family’s reaction, “So, it’s definitely a punch to the gut.”

In the case of Hillel Fuld, and another family victim of terror, Micah Avni, who lost his father to a Hamas attack, there is a personal cost to negotiating with terrorists, particularly through exchange deals, one which not only reopens wounds, but creates a feeling that justice has been undermined.

They are caught weighing the moral scales between the desire to minimize the suffering of hostages, yet at the price of releasing individuals who may commit further atrocities, thereby undermining long-term security and rewarding terrorism.

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In the case of Ari Fuld, the attack appeared to be a premeditated targeting, rather than a random individual.

On that September day in 2018, Jabarin came from behind on the sidewalk of Harim Mall, just south of Jerusalem, and stabbed Ari in a main artery in the neck. In the latter’s last few moments, he summoned the energy to chase down his killer, jump over a wall, and shoot him.

“This kid lacked nothing in life,” Fuld said of Jabarin. “He was not oppressed, he was not occupied. He was living a free life. And he woke up that morning, and decided ‘today is a good day to murder a Jew.’”

Jabarin, while serving a life sentence in prison, was paid by the Palestinian Authority via its pay-to-slay program, according to Fuld. “And it’s a terrible concept to have, to have an animal like that walking the streets.”

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At least 59 hostages are still believed held by Hamas, with about 200 of the abducted from Oct. 7, 2023, have been returned alive, or as remains of deceased.

“I would say that it’s clear as day that if Ari were here today, he would be unequivocally against this deal. He actually spoke about it multiple times, this kind of concept,” said Fuld, 46, an Israeli-American. “I don’t think our personal tragedy or pain caused by the fact that he’s getting out, changes our opinion on the deal, which is that the deal is absolutely terrible and beautiful simultaneously, right?”

He said hostages have to be brought back “at all costs” and Israel will “have to deal with the consequences of letting out these monsters.”

Though he was exempt from continuing his army service, Ari had volunteered for the Israel Defense Forces, while also advocating for Israel on social media and speaking engagements. On Nov. 7, 2018, the Israel Police posthumously awarded Ari Fuld the Medal of Distinction.

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Despite personal anguish over prisoner releases, both Fuld and Micah Avni acknowledge the mixed emotions of needing to release hostages, at an impossibly high cost.

“I don’t think there’s a single person in Israel who wouldn’t do anything on a personal level to get hostages back. But on the other hand, strategically, it makes no sense to my mind to be letting prisoners out. It shows weakness,” Avni, a resident of Tel Aviv, said.

Avni’s father, Richard Lakin, was killed by Hamas member Bilal Abu Ganem, part of the duo who killed three Israeli civilians and injured 15, in a bus attack, in October 2015. Abu Ganem was due to be part of recent Palestinian prisoner releases.

Born in the U.S., Lakin marched with Martin Luther King, and was an activist that helped desegregate schools in Connecticut, according to Avni. He was principal at Hopewell Elementary School from 1969 until his move with his wife and children to Israel in 1984. In his new country, he built an English-as-a-second-language school, teaching Jewish, Christian and Arab children.

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“It was a matter of principle for him. He thought that was the way to bring people together,” said Micah Avni.

Lakin was on the way home from a doctor’s appointment on a Jerusalem bus. Two Hamas terrorists boarded, shooting Lakin and two other civilians, and injuring another 15 people.

Police killed one of the attackers on the spot. The second, Abu Ganem, was brought to Hadassah Hospital, together with Lakin.

Unconscious upon arrival, with a knife in his chest and a bullet in his head, Lakin, 76, didn’t survive.

Two days after the attack, Hamas released a re-enactment video, said Avni. “They had actors get on a bus and ‘shoot’ another actor who was playing my father, and one playing a terrorist. They put it out to educate young children how to do terror attacks like that. And it got tens of millions of views,” said Avni.

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Abu Ganem, a resident of East Jerusalem who held an Israeli residency card, was tried in the District Court in Jerusalem, and sentenced to three life sentences in prison. “He admitted to it, and there was no question about the fact that he and the other were both members of Hamas. He expressed zero remorse for what he had done,” said Avni.

Right after his family moved to Israel, a major prisoner exchange deal took place in May 1985, called the Jibril Agreement. “I remember telling my mother at the time — I was just about to enlist in the army — that if I ever get taken prisoner, don’t exchange any terrorists for me. It’s clear that they’re just going to come back and murder more people.”

The Jibril deal took place between the Israeli government and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command. Israel released 1,150 prisoners from Israeli prisons. In return, Israel received three prisoners captured during the First Lebanon War: Yosef Grof, Nissim Salem, and Hezi Shai.

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The deal included the release of several high-profile prisoners including Ahmed Yassin, a Gazan Muslim Brotherhood leader who later became the spiritual leader of Hamas; and Ziyad al-Nakhalah, serving a life sentence and later became the leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

It set a precedent for future exchanges, including the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange in 2011, which saw the release of 1,027 Palestinian and Israeli Arab prisoners, in exchange for IDF soldier Shalit.

Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind behind the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre in Israel, was released as part of the Shalit exchange.

“You just can’t negotiate with terrorists. The only way to deal with it is to be strong handed,” said Avni.

“Hamas are like the Nazis, pure evil. Sometimes it’s hard for the Western mind to grasp this. But there is no reasoning with these people. There is no negotiation. Their end goal is to destroy us, to destroy Israel, and for most of them, to take over the West as well. So that’s ideological.”

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