Make new abduction rules
Op-ed: Israeli prime ministers should not be facing prisoner swap dilemmas alone
There is no reason not to end this now. The opposite is true. We gave our enemies all the reasons in the world to continue their abductions. Hezbollah has no more prisoners left and therefore it left the abduction game, yet Hamas and the other Palestinian groups have thousands of terrorists who are jailed in Israel.
Before another abduction takes place and complicates matters, we must change the rules of play and impose limitations on all parties involved. This is not supposed to be too difficult.
We need to do it by passing new legislation, which would assert that any “deal” for the release of captives would require a majority of 80-85 Knesset members. Such majority would be very hard and possibly impossible to secure. Moreover, the law would assert that a prisoner who was freed once and went back to terrorism would never be released again. This will be the new Israeli policy, and it will be democratic.
As we are dealing with a moral dilemma of the highest order, the Knesset vote would have to be undertaken by secret ballot, in order to neutralize the effects of public opinion and other emotional manipulations (which we often saw in the last abduction case.) In this case, decentralizing the decision-making process would in fact be a means of exercising control.
Helping decision-makers
The enemy would know that from now on it would not be enough to exert pressure on one person, usually the prime minister. Rather, the new process will see the participation of all parties across Israel’s political spectrum. The moment a majority of more than 80 Knesset members is required, the enemy would realize that a deal cannot be approved.
This would convey a clear message of deterrence: Abducting Israelis does not pay off. Unlike the proposals we heard, the death penalty would not deter future abductors, but rather, the infeasibility. This would be secured by the proposed law.
As long as we settle for committee recommendations, nothing would be achieved. Such recommendations are not binding and do not change reality. However, a strict law at the Knesset would change the rules of the game and get the job done, in respect to both our enemy and our own leadership.
Nothing is more democratic than this: Swaps will no longer be finalized late at night, while presenting the public with a done deal. Rather, they will be worked out as part of the democratic process. Such swaps pertain to all of us, because of the terror they may ignite and the potential of harming citizens, and we therefore must let the public and its representatives join the process, not only the families and the media. In any case, the High Court of Justice disqualified itself from deciding on abduction-related issues.
On a final note, such move would bring great relief to our decision-makers. They would know that they are not alone, but rather, that they now have a broad process that backs them when they reject such deals, thereby protecting them. Why should they face these illogical moral dilemmas on their own? Why should they face an immense media wave alone? The legislation would back them. It would be a preventative law that changes reality and offers protection. Above all, it shall protect us.
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