Looking at the list of women to be released many of them would have been released by year end anyway as their term in prison is over. So at least Israel will get some benefit for releasing them.

While I’m all for bringing Gilad home, a precedent is nonetheless being set. Terrorists will continue to hold prisoners captive while preventing the Red Cross and other so-called human rights groups from visiting these prisoners (in accordance with the Geneva Convention) and determining whether or not they are even alive. All this while the UN condemns Israel for defending itself from Palestinian rockets launched from land Israel evacuated. The Geneva Convention is clearly obsolete and in grave need of a makeover vis-a-vis combating terror.