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Death sentence for Shalit?
Trading live terrorist for bodies paves way for murder of Gilad Shalit or any future captive
Yehuda Wegman
Two developments that happened to take place the same day again taught us about the Olmert government’s pathetic conduct. First, despite the mortar shells
fired at the Karni crossing, the Gaza Strip crossings were opened to the transfer of goods. Meanwhile, the government decided
to trade a living murderer for apparent bodies of soldiers.
The government’s expected conduct in the face of ceasefire violations in the south has been predicted a short while ago, and the government indeed has not disappointing and has been acting just as expected. As it faces a state that refuses to learn the lessons of the past, Hamas
2008 has no problem in adopting, as is, the same excuses used by Arafat during his terror offensive at the beginning of the decade.
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It is clear to everyone, with the exception of the Israeli government, that just like Arafat, Hamas (which showed great decisiveness and efficiency while taking over the Strip) can easily stop the fire. However, in the face of such pathetic government, its leaders know there is no need to make any effort to that end.
The decision on trading a living murderer for the bodies of IDF soldiers has one implication, emphasized by Knesset Member Yossi Beilin, who rightfully objected to the deal – permitting the murder of future captives. No one should be complaining about the parents and relatives of the captives. For them, there is no limit to the price that should be paid for their loved ones. However, national matters – assuming this term still has any meaning for the current Israeli government – should be managed not in accordance with the immediate feelings of the parents, but rather, in line with our overall and future national interests.
When a government runs the affairs of the country in line with the mood of a frenzied media, which is being effectively utilized by the enemy, and in line with the norm whereby anyone objecting to the deal is accused of saying it only because this isn’t his child – the implication is that there is no longer any difference between personal views and national vision.
When the national interest is bent in order to accommodate the personal, private, immediate interest, we see madness that may result in us ultimately receiving Gilad Shalit’s body, even though he’s still alive now. A government that knows with high probability that in exchange for a live terrorist it will be receiving two bodies of IDF soldiers is in practice permitting the murder of Shalit and any future IDF captive.
The parents of new recruits into the IDF should be thinking about this too when they back the current deal, which means getting dead people in exchange for living people. In any case, the national price for conducting ourselves this way in the north and south will be paid by all citizens of Israel in the near future.
Colonel (res.) Yehuda Wegman is a military doctrine and IDF history expert
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