In contrast to the war heroes, fighter-pilots, paratroopers and commandos who normally populate the upper reaches of Israeli politics, he was an ordinary soldier, serving as a tank loader and a radio operator.
"Fatah calls on all its heroes and fighters to turn the settlement of Gilo into terror, exodus and nightmare," the leaflet said.
To many Palestinians, the prisoners are heroes - fighters in a just cause.
"What is ironic is that if Bradley Manning, Mr Snowden and Julian Assange were pursued by other governments, such as China and Russia, the White House and Foggy Bottom would be applauding them and calling them not just whistleblowers, but heroes and fighters for human rights," comments Chen Weihua, deputy editor of China Daily USA.
The releases generated excitement throughout Palestinian society, where prisoners are revered as heroes and freedom fighters.
They include 14 Arab Israelis whom Palestinian authorities consider to be heroes and freedom fighters.
The Palestinians consider the roughly 5,000 Palestinians held by Israel to be heroes and freedom fighters.
He said he did not care if that man, or the other heroes and fallen fighters, were gay or straight.
"They are heroes, our freedom-fighters," said Yaruslav, 29, gesturing to a group of men standing on a burnt-out bus on the front line leading chants of "Out Yanukovych!" Yaruslav said he comes to the protests as often as he can, bringing cigarettes, money and medicine for those in the line of the rubber bullets police have been using to keep crowds at bay.
The buses, followed by hundreds of cars, drove through Ramallah as people stood on the side of the road cheering the prisoners, considered by Palestinians as heroes and freedom fighters who went to jail for resisting the Israeli occupation of their land.
