Survivor of a suicide attack in Israel struggles to get his client released

Survivor of a suicide attack in Israel struggles to get his client released

Haifa, Israel - Oran Almog's last memory before he lost his sight is of corpses covered in broken glass - five members of his own family. A suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt in a restaurant in Haifa, killing Almog's father, brother, grandparents and cousin.

Traumatic memories

"I remember we were sitting at the table and ordering food. And the next thing I remember, I was lying on the floor," Almog said in an interview with CNN.

This terrorist attack killed 21 people and injured 60 others, including Almog, who became blind on October 4, 2003. Now, more than two decades later, the man who hired the assassin - Sami Jaradat - has been released from Israeli prison as part of a ceasefire and hostage release agreement reached between Hamas and Israel in January 2023.

The controversies surrounding the release

Jaradat is part of 1,735 Palestinian prisoners released during the ceasefire in exchange for 33 Israeli hostages. Although most of the released prisoners were not convicted of a crime and only a third were convicted of murder or attempted murder, the government and media in Israel label all prisoners as "terrorists," which has influenced public perception of the agreement.

The news of Jaradat's release left Almog speechless and shocked. "I never thought he would get out of prison... I was speechless. It really caused me deep pain. I wasn't angry and I wasn't disappointed, I just felt something in my heart was broken," he said.

An unexpected prize

But Almog soon recognized what he called the “price” of this agreement and felt it was worth paying. "I understood that if Sami Jaradat remained in prison forever, my family, who were murdered in the terrorist attack, would never return alive. But the living Israeli hostages can still come back, and that was important to me," he explained.

Shortly after Jaradat's release was announced, Almog wrote one Opinion articles in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, in which he called on Israelis to put aside differences over the price and focus on what matters most - the release of the hostages.

Protests and disagreements

Jaradat and 109 other Palestinians were released on January 30 following the release of Israeli hostages Arbel Yehoud, Gadi Moses and Israeli soldier Agam Berger, who were captured during the October 7 attacks. Almog recalled the moment his cousin Chen Almog-Goldstein, who was also taken hostage by Hamas with her surviving children on October 7, was released during the first short-lived ceasefire and hostage release in November 2023.

“I will never forget that evening when they received the first hug from our family… I understood the joy and happiness of Israelis returning home,” he reflected.

But Almog's perspective does not match that of many Israelis. Many, including a small number of families of hostages, belong to the right Tikva Forum and Gvura Forum have rejected a ceasefire from the start. Days after the agreement was announced on January 15, hundreds of demonstrators from these two forums took to the streets of Jerusalem, chanting: “Don’t make a deal with the devil!” and “Sinwar was also released in a deal!”

Historical comparisons

They remember how Yahya Sinwar, the late Hamas leader and architect of the October 7 attacks, was released from Israeli custody along with 1,027 Palestinians in 2011 in exchange for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Yehoshua Shani, the father of an Israeli soldier killed on October 7, invoked this history and called all released Palestinians “evil murderers.” “The price of this deal is already set, we just don’t know who will pay the price,” he said.

Some Israelis oppose the release of Palestinians from Israeli prisons, insisting instead that defeating Hamas through military action should be Israel's top priority in order to return the hostages. As part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement agreed between Israel and Hamas, which lasted 42 days and ended last weekend, 33 Israeli hostages were released in exchange for 1,735 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

A ‘leverage’

According to information from the Israel Prisons Service and the Palestinian Society for Prisoners, most of those targeted for release were detained without charge and were not brought to trial or given the opportunity to defend themselves. Of the 1,735 Palestinians, about 15% were convicted of murdering Israelis, including civilians and soldiers. Most of them were imprisoned during the first and second Intifada, the Palestinian uprisings against Israel's military occupation of the West Bank. Another 18% were convicted of attempted murder.

Nearly two-thirds of the total were detained without trial, including 1,000 Palestinians held in the Gaza Strip during the war. The rest had been convicted of lesser charges such as belonging to a "proscribed organization" or "incitement" - a vague charge used to jail Palestinians for social media posts expressing solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Public perception and support for the ceasefire

This detail is often not understood by the Israeli public, Haaretz political analyst and columnist Dahlia Scheindlin told CNN. “Israelis believe that a Palestinian who is in Israeli custody – simply by virtue of his imprisonment – ​​must be a terrorist,” she said.

Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank are subject to Israel's military court system, which human rights groups report has a conviction rate of over 99%. Human rights organizations have condemn this system, as it serves to maintain Israel's control over the Palestinians.

"There is no doubt that many people have been arrested and detained, both in Gaza and in the West Bank, to be used as leverage. And some of these people probably did not commit a crime, perhaps some of them did... the problem is that the Israelis are not willing to look at both types of prisoners," said Scheindlin.

Despite equating the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners with the release of terrorists, a poll in Israel shows that a majority of Israelis overwhelmingly support the ceasefire and hostage release agreement. Like most Israelis, Almog has prioritized saving the lives of Israeli hostages in Gaza over the “price” of releasing Palestinian prisoners convicted of murdering Israelis.

However, he will not forget this award or what it meant. “Understanding that my pain is bringing the Israeli hostages home... is really important to me,” Almog said. “I don’t know, maybe one day I will meet Agam, Gadi and Arbel and feel the full meaning and importance of this agreement and this prize for myself.”