Israel Matzav

A victory for terror

And though it may be a bitter pill to swallow for Israelis, the Gilad Shalit saga was another defeat of Israel by the terrorists in Gaza. Israel had every right to celebrate his return after over five years in captivity, but we'd better not forget that we were actually marking a defeat, a strategic defeat with long-term implications. Praising ourselves for our national solidarity and for the value we attach to each individual life cannot change the fact that this was another victory for terror. Many more defeats like that for Israel will portend great danger, and we should understand just what went wrong, so that it does not happen again.

We can be sure of one thing - there will be further abductions of Israelis, soldiers or civilians. Why were we not able to find Shalit prior to Operation Cast Lead, during that operation and after the operation? What action should have been taken to find him, and who should have been charged with taking that action? Was this solely the responsibility of the Security Services, or of the IDF, or of a combined team? Who should have been responsible for setting up such a team? We are in urgent need to find the answers to these questions, if we do not want to suffer another defeat at the hands of terrorists.

Labels: Moshe Arens, terrorists for Gilad trade

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:50 PM