...thats why gilad isnt free... and with the new settler-shin-bet-chief, he NEVER will... gilads parents should would write a book : what they have to endure with all those ofers, hagais and bibis...

to propose a "deal", hamas will guaranteed not agree with... ok, but for the record: i understand, the chief-propagandist says, that the deal was dismissed, because some of the prisoners would have had to move to gaza - not back to the west bank... this would mean, the prisoners preferred to stay in an israeli prison, instead of going to gaza for the rest of their sentence, most likely for much less time (when a state is declared etc)... maybe, if you know it all, ben-yishai, you can enlighten us on the problems with the german mediators "new ideas" ?

It's time for Bibi to show some leadership, take the initiative, and declare that he is immediately imposing the exact same conditions on Hamas and Jihad prisoners that Hamas imposes on Shalit: -solitary confinement 24/7 with no sunlight or exercise hour -total blackout on all communications: no more family visits. no lawyer visits. no red cross visits. no calls. no letters. nothing. Bibi should announce that he knows that this is against international law, but he is simply imposing the same conditions that the international community has accepted from Hamas. If the international community doesn't like it, then Bibi is willing to lift the conditions within 1 minute of the confirmation that the Red Cross has visited Shalit to assess his condition.

Israel should then withdraw from the Geneva IV Convention as a High Contracting Member since you advocate that Israel adopt Hamas as the Israeli standard. Why maintain the pretense if that is to be the Israeli standard of behavior? And Roland, Israel already took all the Hamas elected officials in the West Bank as hostages - about a week after Shalit was captured. The IDF even argued in court that releasing any one would diminish their hostage value.

Listen, is it still possible for you to bend over?! If yes, then collect the lost bearings; and once you manage to safely return them to your brain, try to talkback again.

I did not say to adopt the standard. My position is that Israel expose the world's two-faced position in that the UN constantly condemns Israel and ignores Hamas. I'm not advocating torture or summary execution. I'm saying that they best way to pressure the Palestinians into releasing Shalit is to pressure Palestinian society. The ONLY way to pressure Palestinian society is to cut off the Hamas and Jihad prisoners who for years have had the luxury of family visits, lawyer visits, group exercise and prayer, education, special services, letters, phone calls. It's time to cut that off and try to exert pressure on Hamas via the families. If they want to visit their prisoners, then Shalit has to get visitors too. It's simply ridiculous that Hamas spits in the face of the international community, who has nothing to say other than it's all Israel's fault for imposing a closure on Gaza. Cut off the Hamas and Jihad prisoners now, and use that to leverage awareness of Hamas crimes against humanity.

Regardless of whatever the settlers' faults may be, Hamas and only Hamas is responsible for Gilad Shalit. This year it is five years and next year it will be six years and the year after it will be seven years. The only hope is that the same thing happens in Gaza that happened in Egypt, that the locals get rid of the ruling power.

The US, under Bush abandoned Geneva IV for just a few cases initially and Gitmo became a factory. That lead to Abu Ghraib and the factories run by Blackwater and other contractors in Afghanistan. The US also farmed it out to Syria and Egypt. And the treatment was almost exactly what the Inquisition used against Jews in 1492 and some Japanese used against some US POWs after Bataan. You either have and adhere to standards or not. It is like being a little pregnant. Punishing entire groups for the actions of a few is just wrong. It is not a way to educate anybody. Nobody Israel captured from Gaza has had a family visit or contact with any family member since 2005. Nor do they get mail or other signs of normalcy. Neither side teaches the other side much in this conflict. Hamas wants Israel to feel the pain of the siege in Gaza by firing rockets. That does not make Israeli behavior less harsh. Interestingly, not firing rockets does not ameliorate the siege either. The US has prisoners held by the Taliban and al Qaida. We don't negotiate and we do not expect to get them back. But we have stopped abandonment of Geneva for the most part. We got nothing out of it and we made ourselves monsters when we abandoned it.