Trapped between common sense and media pressure to rescue a worthless corporal who comes from a well-connected leftist family, Israel’s security cabinet failed to reach a decision during three meetings today. We wonder how would they would behave in a real military situation, considering that the simple question of a 1-to-950 exchange caused them so much deliberation.
Hamas won’t give up on its demands, so Israel’s rulers will give in.
The release is likely to happpen. The government has been reduced to imploring the Hamas terrorists to accept being expelled from the West Bank upon their release.
Fatah started damage-control measures with another crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank. The release kills Abbas and the Palestinian moderates: the Israeli government has proven yet again that it only understands the language of force.
Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers risked their lives to arrest another nine terrorists in overnight raids. These, too, will be eventually released.
At the present exchange rate, the Palestinians need to kidnap only ten more Israelis to get all their jailed terrorists released.
It is difficult to comprehend what Israel is thinking. On the one hand, they have no problem destroying Palestinian territories with complete disregard for civilian life (yes, civilian is a relative term), but to release upwards of 1000 prisoners for a single soldier? This is ridiculous. What would be an interesting response is a public execution of the people requested for by Hamas, since obviously these men hold some importance to Hamas or their constituents. If such a response became common, these prisoner exchange lists would disappear fast.
What ever happened with the rule, “We don’t negotiate with terrorists”?