The Kuntar File, Exposed - Yediot Aharonot - by Nir Gontarz
After almost 30 years of being classified, File No. 578/79 has been granted permission for publication: the murderer’s testimony, the shots in Danny Haran’s back and the death blow to toddler Einat’s head.

For almost 30 years the Samir Kuntar file has sat in the district courthouse archives in Haifa. Its contents were never authorized for publication. Until yesterday. Right before his expected release in two days’ time, the court acceded to Yedioth Aharonot’s request and allowed Kuntar’s testimony, copies of the copious evidence and other testimonies in the file, the indictment and the judges’ verdict, to be perused…

Besides the Pardons Department, no one has ever read the file - which was considered top secret by court administrators. On the few occasions that it was removed from the archives, it was accompanied by an armed security officer. Being a classified security file, the contents of File No. 578/79 had never been released for publication. Due to the obvious public interest, Justice Ron Shapira has permitted publication of everything in the file except one person’s testimony. The judge also asked not to publish the pathological reports or any other detail that could harm the memory of the victims.

“I saw no reason to restrict access to the indictment and the sentence [as demanded by the prosecutors' office - N.G.],” explained the judge. “No one disputes that the matter of Kuntar’s release and therefore the circumstances of his detention are subjects of public interest. I’m certain that the newspaper’s request is justified.”

Kuntar, a Druze Lebanese, was 17 when he commanded the terrorist cell of the Popular Front for the National Liberation of Palestine. He has never expressed remorse for killing Einat (age 4) and Danny (age 32) Haran and the police officer Eliyahu Shahar (age 24). He and the other surviving cell member, Ahmed Assad Abras, were sentenced to five life terms and another 47 years of imprisonment. In the Nahariya terror attack on April 22, 1979, Yael Haran (age 2) was also killed while hiding from the terrorists with her mother Smadar Haran.

“I Did Not Kill”

Kuntar was supposed to rot in jail until his dying day, but barring further delays in the deal with Hizbullah, on Wednesday morning he will say goodbye to his cellmates in Cell 33, Wing 3, in Hadarim Prison, be transported to the Rosh Hanikra border crossing, and celebrate his 46th birthday at home in the village of Aabey near the Beirut airport.

On the night of April 22, 1979, Kuntar and his accomplices sailed from Lebanon in a rubber dinghy and landed on the Nahariya beach. They shot at a police car, killing officer Eliyahu Shahar. Moving on, they broke into the nearby Haran family apartment at 61 Jabotinsky Street, and dragged Danny and four-year-old Einat to the beach. Smadar and two-year-old Yael hid in the attic, where Yael suffocated to death as her mother tried to keep her quiet - so the terrorists would not find them.

On the beach, during an exchange of fire with security forces, Kuntar shot Danny in the back at close range and murdered Einat as well. Two of his fellow terror cell members were killed; Kuntar and Abras survived and were put on trial.

Immediately following his capture, when his remand was extended, Kuntar confessed that he had bludgeoned Einat to death with the butt of his rifle. Later, however, when testifying in court, Kuntar denied the charges. “I reached Nahariya beach at 2:30 in the morning,” he testified on January 6, 1980. “We tied our boat to a rock. We had instructions to avoid opening fire, to take hostages and bring them to Lebanon. I was commander of the cell. I planned to knock on the door at one of the houses. Majeed and I walked towards the building. I told him to ring the bell but not to speak, because I planned to speak English with the people living there. When we went in, Majeed buzzed one of the apartments, and Majeed spoke to the woman in Arabic and she answered him in Hebrew. He made a mistake and she didn’t open the door.

“I then heard the sound of a car driving up and stopping… I opened fire, then we went up to one of the apartments, where we pulled out a man and a girl so we could take them with us. I decided we should take the girl with us to ensure we’d stay alive, and then return her from Lebanon to Israel via the Red Cross.

“While we were with them, shots were fired at us… I shot some rounds at those people with my Kalashnikov rifle and hit one of them; he went down. When I saw the boat had been hit… we tried to retreat by land and escape the gunfire coming our way… Tthe army began an assault on us… I wanted to find a way to tell them to stop shooting at us, because our whole objective was to take hostages to Lebanon. But I didn’t have a megaphone… I was hit by five bullets. Then [Danny] Haran got to his feet and signaled to the army forces with his hand to stop them from firing. He was hit by the bullets being shot at him by the soldiers. The five bullets that hit me struck sensitive places, so I lost a lot of blood and passed out. I didn’t know what else was happening with me until I woke up in the morning and found myself in the military’s hands. I didn’t hurt the girl at all and I didn’t see how she met her death.”

However, in court, prosecution witness no. 4 testified that he saw Danny Haran stand up and shout, “Cease your fire, don’t shoot. My little girl is here.” Immediately thereafter he saw Danny shot by Kuntar. Testimony was also given in court by a doctor who ruled that Einat’s death had been caused by a direct blow with a blunt instrument, something like a stick or a rifle butt.

Satanic Act

The court sessions were unbearable for Smadar Haran. In one of them, Kuntar’s defense attorney claimed that he had been beaten in the detention center. Smadar, who could not stand it any longer, muttered something at the murderers - causing the head judge to demand that she apologize. Smadar elected to exit the courtroom quietly, but refused to give an apology.

Slain officer Eliyahu Shahar’s mother did not attend the reading of the sentence in January 1980. Her heart had given out four days earlier. All those present in the courtroom, accustomed to seeing her there every session, felt her absence. Smadar Haran sat with her head downcast, bowed over in pain. Kuntar, according to the report in Yediot Aharonot at the time, actually looked amused.

“Kuntar went over to Einat Haran and hit her head twice with the butt of his rifle, with the intent of killing her,” wrote the judges in their verdict. “The other defendant also struck her head forcefully. As a result of the blows, Einat suffered skull fractures and fatal brain damage, causing her death. They murdered the hostages - a helpless father and daughter, in cold blood.” They wrote in the sentence, “By these acts the defendants reached an all-time moral low… an unparalleled satanic act… the punishments we are about to impose on the defendants cannot begin to match the brutality of their actions…”

Kuntar, who managed to complete a bachelor’s degree in social studies and humanities while in Israeli prison, was categorized by the Israeli government as a bargaining chip in the Ron Arad affair. That was four years ago, during the deal to return Elhanan Tannenbaum and the bodies of three IDF soldiers who had been kidnapped from Mt. Dov in 2000. Israel agreed to release Kuntar only in exchange for information on Ron. No information was received, and Kuntar remained in jail.

Two weeks ago, Smadar Haran held a press conference, and made it clear that she is reconciled to the deal being made with Hezbullah. Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser will be returned to Israel in exchange for Kuntar’s release. “Kuntar is not my personal prisoner,” she explained. In two days, apparently, her family’s murderer will be liberated, and Israel still will not have any reliable information on the fate of the captured navigator.

• The institution of “calm” applies only to the Gaza Strip and not to West Bank areas.  Thus, while Israel’s security forces will refrain from operations in the Gaza Strip, they will continue to undertake necessary operations in the West Bank.
• Palestinian terrorist organizations must:
  • Halt all fire and terrorist activity
  • End their buildup of arms
  • Cease smuggling from Egypt
• While the above points are effective immediately with the beginning of the “calm,” opening the crossings to Gaza will be implemented gradually after successive periods of calm.
  • After 3 days, Israel will open the Karni and Sufa crossings for basic commodities
  • One week later, Israel will allow for a larger number of commodities to enter the Gaza Strip, excepting those used for weapons manufacturing
  • After an additional week, talks will be held about opening the Rafah crossing to Egypt
• The freedom of Gilad Shalit, kidnapped two years ago, is an integral part of the “state of calm.”  According to Foreign Minister Livni, releasing Shalit is a necessary step if Hamas wants to achieve further gains.
• Furthermore, Israel will continue to monitor the situation closely to ensure that all parties adhere to their obligations.  Hamas will bear responsibility for any terrorist act by any organization and should be prepared to accept the consequences of such actions.

While the State of Israel has every desire to see this “lull” develop into a period of sustained calm, she places primary significance on the safety and security of her citizens.  Should the “calm” collapse, Israel will take alternate measures to address the new situation. 

For more informaiton, see the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.

The Executive Summary reflects many of the deliberations that took place and is available for download.  (The link is to the English version, in PDF format [59 pages, 1.8 MB].)

At a UN Security Council debate yesterday, French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert led a walkout after Libya made disgraceful comments comparing the situation in Gaza to Nazi concentration camps. His Western counterparts followed.

Read the full story from AFP.

Check out this YouTube video showing some of Livni’s speech in Boston to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. She addresses many of the most important issues, like Israel’s commitment to peace and to combating terrorism.

Presumptive Republican nominee for President, Senator John McCain made an international tour last week which brought him at one poin to the Israeli town of Sderot. As many of you know, Sdeort has been the target of thousands of Palestinian rockets and missiles over the past five years. These missiles are fired everyday at Sderot, a city of now just 20,000 down from over 30,000, indiscriminately and meant to kill and maim civilians. We’d like to thank Mr. McCain for coming to Sderot to help bring a attention to the Israeli civilians being terrorized on a daily basis in Sderot.

You can see more pictures here

The firing of Qassam rockets against Sderot and the nearby kibbutzim is not stopping and is extracting a heavy price in terms of fear and blood. Responsibility for the shooting from the Gaza Strip, which has been going on for seven years - both before and after the disengagement from the Strip - falls on the Palestinians. Were it not for the shooting, Israel would not respond.

For the past eight months Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip alone, and it is no longer possible to explain away the shooting as due to a lack of control over rogue organizations. The time has come for the Palestinians to ask themselves and their leadership about the direction they are heading. Are the West Bank and the Gaza Strip still one entity, aspiring to establish an independent state alongside Israel? Is it possible that in all situations, Israel will hold negotiations for the establishment of such a state while Hamas is shooting at it? Has Hamas decided to foil a peace agreement and chosen for its people the option of continuous war?

Israel left the Gaza Strip in the summer 2005 to signal the start of an end to the occupation. Kadima was set up after leading figures in Likud, with Ariel Sharon at their head, decided to withdraw from the Greater Land of Israel to more secure and limited borders. The party’s political platform also included a withdrawal from the West Bank, dividing the land into two states for two peoples and an evacuation of settlements. In order to show the seriousness of its intentions, settlements from Gush Katif and northern Samaria were evacuated without an agreement.

The ball passed to the Palestinian court, where it has been stuck after the Palestinians elected Hamas, which opposes a peace agreement with Israel. Instead of Gaza becoming the cornerstone for a Palestinian state, it has become a hostile entity under siege.

The disengagement was not a mistake, but a necessary move of vision and hope. Hamas undermined the hope for a shared future and opted to preserve, as its declared policy, its “resistance” to the existence of the State of Israel, and by extension continue its path of violence. While Israel is trying to correct its historic error of settling in the heart of the Palestinian population by converging into old-new borders of a more ethical democracy, the Palestinians elected Hamas, which is not willing to compromise. The Qassam attacks are not proof that the disengagement failed, but that the Hamas rule is leading the Palestinians into a new round of an unnecessary war. While Mahmoud Abbas is trying to preserve, with the skin of his teeth, a channel of dialogue with Israel, one that will lead to an agreement, Hamas and the other groups are making great efforts to foil any chance for a solution.

If the limited military actions Israel is undertaking in an effort to bring an end to the Qassam rockets will not bring an end to the shooting; if the moderate states, and first and foremost Egypt and Jordan fail to contain Hamas - Israel will have no option but to embark on a broad military operation.

The Israel Defense Forces raison d’etre is to protect the country’s citizens from attack. Even if the success of a military operation is not guaranteed, that concern must not prevent the government from doing what is necessary in order to protect the lives of its citizens and the state’s border. The solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is political, and should always be pursued. At the same time, Israel must prove that the blood of its citizens cannot be forfeited - so that in the future, its neighbors will abide by the agreements to which they have committed.