The arrest of the terrorist who killed Baruch Mizrahi on Passover eve may not have brought great comfort to his widow, Hadas, but she expressed certainty on one point Monday: Freeing terrorists is a mistake. "We hope that justice is done and they get the death sentence," Hadas Mizrahi said Monday. "There is no forgiveness here. The [death] sentence is the only solution, not prison in five-star conditions. This will keep them from murdering again. If there hadn't been a negotiating card, my husband might still be alive today." Despite her pain, Mizrahi said that "we are happy about the arrest. We also understand that [Ziad Awad] was released as part of the Gilad Schalit deal. It was clear to me that freeing terrorists would lead to this, which is why I opposed prisoner releases." "We hope that now justice will be done and conditions will change. It won't bring Baruch back and the hole he left behind won't be filled, but I'll definitely try to work to change things -- both to apply the death penalty and make sure there won't be any more deals like these," Mizrahi said. "I give my support to the security forces who keep us safe, and would also like to send my support to the families of the kidnapped [teens]. I am praying for them, that they will be returned quickly and safely." A warning light The same sentiments expressed by Mizrahi were palpable in the right-wing political parties on Monday. The political echelon had a harsh response to the cracking of the Mizrahi murder, with some ministers arguing that releasing terrorists in exchange for captive Israelis encouraged kidnappings. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's response was among the strongest. Lieberman said he had made a mistake in allowing ministers from his Yisrael Beytenu party to vote their conscience in the matter of the Schalit deal, and made it clear that it "would not happen again." "Even thought I was against freeing terrorists as part of the Schalit deal, I hoped the day would never come when it would be proved once more that released terrorists murder again. Terrorists stay terrorists and deals with terrorists lead to more bloodshed, murder, and a 'need' for new deals," Lieberman said. Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar (Likud) called for Israel to "increase pressure on Hamas in every way possible to bring back the three kidnapped teens and catch their abductors." "Public diplomacy efforts should stress the fact that [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud] Abbas is covering for Hamas, a terrorist organization that he chose to enter a political alliance with," Sa'ar said. Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett said that the arrest of Baruch Mizrahi's killer "proves that the idea of releasing terrorists has come to an end. The concept of freeing terrorists has followed us for 30 years, and today it fell apart." According to coalition chairman Yariv Levin (Likud), "Catching the murderer who was let out as part of the Schalit deal serves as a warning light for any future release. The responsibility for the murder lies with the entire Palestinian society, which gives backing to the murderers and makes them out to be heroes. Israel must change the equation on terrorist groups so that killings and kidnappings will come with a heavy price that the Palestinian society as a whole will have to pay." Tourism Minister Uzi Landau (Yisrael Beytenu) agreed that "the decision of Israeli governments over the years to free so many murderers prove time and again that the prisoner releases encourages terrorist organizations to focus on kidnappings, which in turn leads to an ever-widening circle of bloodshed and terror." 'We didn't say which terrorists should be freed' "We didn't demand the prisoner release and we weren't the ones who put together the list of which prisoners who were freed," Noam Schalit said Monday in response to the news that Mizrahi's murderer had been freed as part of the exchange deal for his son Gilad. "It's not fair to judge them," friends of the Schalit family told Israel Hayom. "Any family would do the same as they did if it was their son."
