Israel Matzav

The risks of the 'terrorists for Gilad' trade

The New York Times notes with some surprise the 'Israeli consensus' that would trade more than 1,000 terrorists for kidnapped IDF corporal Gilad Shalit.

The negotiations for the release of Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit, seized more than three years ago in a raid into southern Israel by Hamas and other militant groups, are entering a crucial stage through German and Egyptian mediation. While the details of the talks are hidden here behind military censorship, the outlines are widely known.

They have raised surprisingly little controversy given the risks of future seizures of Israelis and attacks at the hands of those freed and the equally serious risk of raising the fortunes of Hamas. Although Israel has spent decades trying to build a reputation as a tough self-sacrificing society that spurns negotiations with terrorists, polls show a strong majority in favor of the trade.

“To us it seems reasonable although it is totally not,” said Tal Goren, who produced and directed a documentary on the Shalit family called “Family in Captivity.” “It is emotional, not logical.”

...

Levi Weiman-Kelman, an American-born rabbi who has been here for 30 years and presides over Congregation Kol Haneshama in Jerusalem, said the focus could be traced back to Genesis 14, when Abraham’s nephew Lot was captured in war and the biblical patriarch gathered up a huge posse to rescue him.

“The whole Jewish obsession of ‘pidyon shvuyim,’ rescuing captives, is based on that,” he said. “In the Middle Ages, some Jewish communities went bankrupt when faced with piracy and the need to rescue people.”

The problem is that it has become politically incorrect here to say that the price for Shalit is too high. But it is. Kelman's synagogue is in one of the few remaining liberal bastions in Jerusalem, and anyone with some knowledge of Jewish history can poke holes in his arguments quite easily. Allow me: In Genesis 14, Abraham did not pay ransom for Lot. He took his army and went to rescue him. The same Israelis who object to paying ransom for Shalit in the form of 1,000 or more terrorists would be the first to advocate for the IDF going in to rescue him.

As to the idea of pidyon shvuyim, please allow me - again - to remind you of the case of the Maharam of Rothenburg, who would not allow his community to ransom him, died in prison, and was not brought to burial for several years after his death because of his instructions that the community not ransom him.

Israelis have a strong streak of redeeming captives, but in this case the specifics are based on a corruption of the Jewish precedents and on an underestimation of the potential threat that we all face from the release of terrorists.

“There will be a massive release of all the greatest murderers in the last and present century,” lamented Rami Igra, former director of the Prisoner of War department of the Mossad intelligence agency, in an opinion article in the conservative newspaper Israel Hayom. “This is shameless and bottomless surrender to Hamas’s demands. It’s true that all of us, as citizens of the State of Israel, have an obligation to each other and particularly to the soldiers we sent into battle, but this obligation must have a rational basis and should not lead to suicide.”

But others say that the risk from those expected to be released is exaggerated for two reasons. First, the combination of Israeli and Palestinian security forces in the West Bank is keeping a lid on violence. And second, the prisoners are part of a political organization with which Israel is trying to make peace.

“These people, although they are murderers, do it for a political cause and even if they don’t represent a country they are being sent by a military organization that is our rival and one day will make peace with us,” Mr. Liel, the former diplomat, said. “They are not regular criminals. We know that sooner or later when we have a peace deal they will be released.”

Liel - a former director general of Israel's foreign ministry - is a member in good standing of Israel's moonbat Left. But more importantly, he's wrong on the substance. When the 'Palestinians' started the 'second intifada' in 2000, there was also a 'combination of Israeli and 'Palestinian' security forces in the 'West Bank.'' In fact, one of the first attacks the 'Palestinians' carried out was the murder of an Israeli soldier on patrol by his 'Palestinian' partner. And while the terrorists may be part of a political organization with which Israel is trying to make peace - as Liel so gently tries to sterilize them - that will not stop them from returning to terror. In fact, all the historical precedents indicate that most of the terrorists will return to terror.

Liel also ignores the fact that it is Hamas - which is not Israel's 'peace partner' - which is carrying out this 'trade,' and not the 'good terrorists' from Fatah. Not only does that make it even more likely that the released terrorists will return to terror, it also means that Fatah is likely to be weakened by this 'trade.'

The media have done all they can here to suppress the truth about any potential exchange for Shalit. They have not published (or have been forced not to publish) many of the details about the negotiations, including the names and numbers of terrorists to be released. While Israelis may support an exchange in the abstract, once the names get out (which will be too late), I believe that most Israelis will be horrified. And the word on the street here is that the reason that the IDF has not tried to rescue Shalit in the last three years is that the family has insisted that it not do so. They'd rather trade 1,000 terrorists. They don't live in a big city which is likely to be targeted by future terror attacks planned and executed by those terrorists.

The picture at the top is of the last major suicide bombing in Jerusalem - the 19 bus on January 29, 2004. Eleven Israelis were murdered in that bombing, including one I knew. Releasing another 1,000 or more terrorists makes it much more likely that - God forbid - we will have more suicide bombings here soon.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:25 PM