for better or for worse, israel makes great efforts to save its people. so barak and bibi wanted photo ops-big deal. i would not get excited. \as for shalit, it is good to review some points. 1. hamas had a good attack plan.\ 2. Hamas expressed surprised at the feebleness of shalit- he did not look like a tough soldier and indeed he does not. \idf has to toughen up its troops so they have some scars and not look baby faced and submissive like herzog. 3. bibi can never pull the trigger on an iran hit. yaalon would have to do it. bibi was shot twice during his commando days and has not been able to overcome the fear of being shot- which is why he runs shouting for aid from the \US. 4. Ehud barak has some good days early on but since his pm days onwards, he has been a disaster only slightly better than peretz. he screwed up the lebanon withdrawal, he did not do a good job on the marmora, his concession offers weakened the state. \he has been a disaster and israelis do not want him. \yaalon is better for the times though only if he leads bibi and not the other way around.

for the murderers released for shalit. Disgusting just doesn't say it.