Israel Matzav

Not worth the price

Yet along with our genuine empathy for what the Shalits must be going through, a painful truth must also be spoken: Freeing his son is not worth the price.

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I write that difficult sentence as a journalist who has had the opportunity to view uncut interviews with tens of these unrepentant killers. When asked what they would do when and if they were released, all said that they would kill again.

To observe the matter-of-factness with which these killers describe their heinous acts, you learn one thing: If any of these killers are released, they will murder again.

Indeed, according to Zev Dasberg, an attorney by profession and the head of the Israel Institute for the Research on Terror Victims, more than fifty people have been murdered in cold blood by killers who were freed by Israel in previous "gestures" when convicted killers were freed over the past five years.

I also write as a father who currently has a son serving in an IDF army combat unit not far from Gaza. My son, Elchanon, made just one request before he was drafted: Please do not trade any murderers in exchange for me, in case I am captured. As much as it would pain me to do so, I would honor my son's request.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:26 AM