The word rippling through the Internet news is that the prisoner swap that will released an Israeli soldier captured in 2006 will be take place soon, encouraging his family who petitioned this happen years ago.
Netanyahu claims the unrest (known to the rest of us as the Arab Spring forced him to take the steps that historically Israel had used for decades to resolve similar cases.
Sounds like a Win-Win. Too bad it took so long.
The swap is notedly lopsided, but that is due to the fact that Israel imprisons Palestinians in a very lopsided manner including many women and, as formerly noted, children in their sweeps for prisoners within their, West Banks, and Gaza's borders.
Shalit's family has petitioned for a long time for the Israeli government to do such a swap, even camping outside the Israeli PM's house.
Apparently after all the get tough talk from the Israeli government during the latest portions of the rule of the Kadima party and the revival of Likud, hampered a deal so to prevent the fall of the government, and the PM is using the events of this spring and summer to do the kinds of swaps that Israel has always done.
See Reuters report at yahoo.com for basic details. Others are from my understanding of the situation after following sources who have been reporting on this case for years.
