Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sought the government's go-ahead on Sunday for a prisoner swap with Hezbollah to recover two soldiers whose abduction by the Iranian-backed guerrillas triggered the 2006 Lebanon war.
Israeli media predicted Olmert would win a majority vote for the German-mediated deal at the cabinet session, despite his spymasters' arguments against trading live Lebanese prisoners in light of intelligence assessments that the soldiers are dead.
"We have an opportunity to put an end to this sad, painful story," Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz told Israel Radio before the debate, expected to take as long as three hours, began.
Invoking a military precept that soldiers be recovered from the battlefield no matter what their condition, Mofaz, a former defence minister, said: "If Israel does not look out for its sons, its sons will not look out for it."
Through a U.N.-appointed German negotiator, Israel has offered to free five jailed Lebanese guerrillas and repatriate the remains of around 10 slain infiltrators in exchange for army reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.
Topping the release roster is Samir Qantar, who is serving a life sentence for a deadly 1979 border raid and whom Israeli officials previously described as a last "bargaining chip" for the return of missing airman Ron Arad.
Hezbollah has been tight-lipped on progress in the indirect negotiations but a Lebanese political source said this month that "final touches" were being put on a swap deal.
HEZBOLLAH AMBUSH
Goldwasser and Regev were spirited into Lebanon during a July 12, 2006 Hezbollah ambush on their border patrol in which eight other soldiers died.
Bloodstains and blast damage at the scene prompted Israeli officials to conclude that one or both of the captives did not survive the raid. Hezbollah has given no details on their fate.
Olmert at first ruled out any negotiations on the soldiers' return, launching a 34-day offensive in Lebanon. The war killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon as well as 157 Israelis.
Should the cabinet approve the swap, it could take place within two weeks, Israeli and Lebanese political sources said.
"Whether it happens on the 11th or the 12th (of July) is not critical," Mofaz said. "What's important is that we get this done as soon as possible."
Arad disappeared into captivity after bailing out during a 1986 bombing over Lebanon. Hezbollah has denied knowing anything about his whereabouts, and clemency for Qantar would be widely seen as Israel's admission that Arad's trail has gone cold.