Copyright 2004 Jerusalem Post
February 25
HEADLINE: Possible deal would allow Tannenbaum's release
BYLINE: JPOST.COM STAFF
Elhanan Tannenbaum's lawyers, Eli Zohar and Ro'i Belcher, are discussing a deal with the Shin Bet and the police by which the severity of their client's sentence will be reduced, reported Channel 2 on Tuesday evening.
According to the report Tannenbaum will reveal the circumstances which led to his arrival in Lebanon and the military secrets he disclosed to the Hizbullah during his capture. In exchange the three years that the former Hizbullah captive spent in Lebanon will be considered jail sentence for his crimes.
Security officials in the Shin Bet and the police expressed discontentment of the Channel 2 report claiming that the deal is in its early stages and leaks about it are likely to reduce the chances of its success, reported Army Radio on Wednesday.
The Knesset Intelligence and Secret Services Subcommittee released a scathing statement last Wednesday dubbing the Tannenbaum affair 'one of the gravest in Israel's history,' following testimony that his abduction might have been contrived.
Kidnapped by Hizbullah and members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in October 2000, Tannenbaum, a colonel in the reserves and privy to some of Israel's most sensitive weapons systems, was repatriated in a costly hostage swap on January 29.