The Syrian border at the southern Golan Heights, seen from the Israeli side, July 29, 2018.
On Wednesday we reported that Syria would release an Israeli citizen who wandered into their territory in exchange for Israel’s releasing two imprisoned terrorists in exchange (
Syrian Report: Israel and Syria to Exchange Civilian for 2 Terrorists). Israel and Syria were relying on Russia to mediate the talks to carry out the exchange, and to that end, the head of Israel’s National Security Council Meir Ben Shabbat, and the POW coordinator Yaron Blum, flew to Moscow for the negotiations.
But something went wrong back home: both prisoners, who were convicted on security charges by Israeli courts, have no interest in going back to Syria, they would much rather stay confined in Israel, thank you very much.