Insanity of Israeli media

Israel had finally negotiated the release of Gilad Shalit, a soldier kidnapper in 2006 from Israel by Hamas last fall. The country had welcome its soldier-son home, but released 1027 Palestinian prisoners, some of them mass murderers. I would like to admire a country that goes so far to bring back one of its own. But I can't. All I see is weakness and stupidity.

Spare me the righteous rhetoric starting with "If it was your son...". A vast prisoner release is a matter of state security. How many murderers went free to secure the release of one Israeli? Many of the released prisoners already swore to go back to terrorism. How many Israelis will die by their hands?

It may seem an admirable goal - doing 'everything' to secure the release of a soldier. But did Israel really do everything? Shalit was held incommunicado, (and he looks starved in all his photos) he had no access even by the Red Cross. Under such conditions, why didn't Israel at least demand equal rights for him?

Shalit during his release interview looked like
an inmate from a Nazi concentration camp.

Shalit was kidnapped from Israel; he wasn't serving in Gaza or West bank at the time. By what right was he detained for 5 years? Unlike the Palestinian terrorists he was never accused of anything. Just being a Jew in Israel is enough.

The trade Israel has carried out 1 for 1027 is not only asymmetrical; it's totally immoral because it draws a false parallel between an innocent youth, and criminals who were found guilty in a court of law. Palestinians often press their cases in Israeli courts - they know Israeli laws a fair.

In fact, Israel was should have demanded Shalit's release. They have non-military leverage, which they never even attempted to use. Israel could threaten to deny visitation rights to Palestinians until Shalit was given access. They could stop remitting taxes to Gaza, limited their electricity, etc. and laid the fault at the feet of Hamas, which runs Gaza since 2006. Nothing of the sort was ever attempted, despite the fact that it would not only further the goal of bringing back Shalit, but weaken Hamas through popular resentment. Apparently 'everything' refers only to Bugs Bunny politics: all carrot.

Immediately after Shalit's release, the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), a Palestinian militant group has vowed to abduct a “new Gilad Shalit” in order to force Israel to free the remaining 6,000 Palestinians still languishing in Israeli prisons. "We are going to capture another soldier and cleanse all the Israeli jails of our prisoners," said a masked spokesman, according to UK's Daily Telegraph newspaper.

It gets worse. Gilad's father, Noam Shalit, has gotten used to the spotlight. Now he wants to go into politics. He even reinstalled the Israeli flag on his roof. His actions betray the inversion of JFK's philosophy: "What can my country do for me?" For five years Noam Shalit was Hamas' champion facilitated by the willing media. You can hear from about this case from Dr. Boaz Ganor, who's the Associate Dean of the Lauder School of Government, the founder and Executive Director of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT), and the head of the Homeland Security Studies Programs.

I care about Israel, but these are very bad signs about the power of the left-wing media, and gullibility of the public. A major sobering up after some of the released prisoners are seen engaging in terrorism is inevitable. It will provide a lesson similar to the failed Ozlo initiatives that the media is also going to ignore.

It seems that the sentiment below: "Dear Hamas take me!" applies to the whole country. The affair has been similar to placing a 'kick me' sign on all the military personnel.

Shalit should have been liberated, but not exchanged at ridiculous rate in a way that also contributed to erasing the distinction between citizen-soldiers and terrorists.