Yaron Toren. Not at any price
Gilad's parents, Noam and Aviva Shalit
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Petition: If I'm taken captive, don't pay any price
Jerusalem resident publishes petition on internet calling on civilians, soldiers to sign that they are opposed to releasing murderers if kidnapped. 'Clearly, mass release of terrorists increases chances that I will be taken captive,' he says
A petition circulated recently on the internet calls for civilians and soldiers to sign a declaration asserting that if they are kidnapped, the government must not secure their release by freeing terrorists.
Yaron Toren, 37, of Jerusalem, is not part of a bereaved family. The petition is his own private initiative. When the cabinet discussed two weeks ago linking the opening of the Gaza border crossings to kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit's release, Toren wrote the petition and started circulating it among his family, friends, and acquaintances. From here, it snowballed.
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Until now, some 700 people have signed the petition. "I saw that there are many petitions for his release, while there are no petitions that say otherwise – what is not conventional to say."
The petition is unique in that it does not directly address releasing terrorists in exchange for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, but deals with releasing terrorists in general. Those signed on the petition declare that the forego the release of terrorists in any manner if their fate is the same as Shalit's.
"If I fall captive or am kidnapped, I expect the Government of Israel to make all reasonable efforts to return me to Israel and my family," the petition says. "Despite this, if the only way to release me is through releasing terrorists, I expect the government to examine the case not only in light of my personal interest, but mainly in light of the long-term national interest."
"On a personal level, I empathize with the Shalit family and their struggle to release Gilad. I would behave exactly as they do," Toren explains. "But the country must decide what it wants from itself. We are conducting a very disordered discourse among ourselves as organizations are setting ridiculous prices for us and ensuring an escalation in terrorism as these murderers are released. This has enormous strategic significance."
According to Toren, "With all the accompanying pain, for Gilad and mainly for the future, the only way to deal with such kidnappings is not to release terrorists. Period. If this is the only equation in the deal, the government needs to look the nation in the eye and say, 'There is no deal because I am not willing for a third intifada to start and for Hamas to receive tail wind. I will not comply with the murder of dozens of Israelis.' What would happen if those terrorists would murder my daughter? Do I not have the right to oppose this possibility"?
Prepared to bear consequences
On the future implication of foregoing a captive soldier, Toren said, "I, too, like Gilad Shalit, am a gunner in the Armored Corps. It is clear to me that the mass release of terrorists will in crease the chances that I will be kidnapped because these (terrorist) organizations will understand that this method works. I could also be in that situation, and I wouldn't want dozens of murderers to return to action on the basis of my release."
Toren said that he knows the solution for the Shalit case is very limited. However, he is prepared to bear the consequences, even if it means Shalit remains in captivity.
"We must damage the terms of imprisonment of terrorists in Israel - to put massive pressure on them and to prefer military action, just as Yitzhak Rabin did in the Nachshon Waxman case. In that case, Rabin knew how to speak to the nation honestly and directly say, 'I have made a decision because this is what I think needs to be done.'"
