Five years after being abducted by Hamas during a cross-border raid, a captured Israeli soldier is back home in Israel. Sergeant First Class Gilad Shalit was taken from the Gaza Strip to Egypt, where he told Egyptian TV he was hopeful that his trade for more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners being released by Israel would "advance peace." Prime Minister Netanyahu said the country was "united in joy and in pain." Buses carrying more than 400 Palestinian prisoners went from Israel to Ramallah, the capital of the West Bank. They were met by Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, although their release was negotiated by leaders of the rival Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Will the trade improve relations between Israel and Hamas? Has the "Arab Spring" made Egypt a different kind of player?
Is Israeli Prisoner Swap with Hamas a Step Toward Peace?
Credits
Guests:
- Dan Ephron - Newsweek/Daily Beast
- Jon Donnison - BBC - @http://twitter.com/#!/JonDonnison
- Matt Bradley - Wall Street Journal - @MattMcBradley