He's got to be kidding
Get this: Defense Minister Ehud Barak believes that the lesson that Hamas will learn from the Gilad Shalit kidnapping and ransom is that crime doesn't pay. He's got to be kidding. Israel must change its approach to kidnap situations, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Channel 2 on Sunday night. Asked whether he had a message for Hamas and its military chief, Ahmed Jabari, on the consequences of a future kidnap attempt, Barak responded, "I don't think I have to say anything publicly via television screens. "Well, yeah, but the reason it's called a 'slippery slope' is that once you start down it, it's almost impossible to stop. Does anyone in this country really believe that if another soldier is God forbid kidnapped, the government won't be faced with the exact same pressure it faced regarding Shalit (unless, maybe, if the soldier has left some sort of last will and testament that insists that he not be ransomed)?
He added, "Hamas understands that it's not worth its while try this again. As we are a learning nation, we don't want to return to this."
The defense minister said Israel would "do what we have to do" to ensure that Israel does not release such a large number of prisoners in future cases of kidnapping, adding, "Jabari and the Hamas will understand the change."
Barak said that a "life-loving country cannot continue" to release over 1000 prisoners for a soldier. "This slippery slope has to stop. A change is needed," he said.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Ehud Barak, IDF, kidnapping, terrorists for Gilad trade
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:47 PM
2 Comments:
You can't say the Shalit family was a special case. Is the Israeli government going to deny similar treatment for other prisoners' families? No, its not.
And every one in the Israeli government knows it.
What could go wrong indeed
The lesson should be that if one Israeli prisoner is worth 1,000 Arabs then next time an Israeli is taken prisoner, 1,000 Arabs are captured also. Israeli prison conditions may need to be adjusted so this is economically feasible.
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