Israel Caves Again

Front Page Magazine ^ | July 02, 2008 | P. David Hornik

[george76]

On Sunday the Israeli cabinet voted 22-3 in favor of a “prisoner” swap with Hezbollah. Israel, on its side of the bargain, won’t be receiving any prisoners but instead the corpses of Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, the two soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah in 2006, along with partial, inadequate information on Ron Arad, the airman shot down over Lebanon in 1986.

Hezbollah, for its part, gets five live terrorists including child-killer Samir Kuntar, dozens of corpses of terrorists, information on four Iranian diplomats who were detained by Christian Phalange forces in Lebanon in 1982, and live Palestinian terrorists whose number and identity are supposed to be determined by Israel.

The lopsided vote in favor was especially notable given the opposition of Israel’s defense establishment, which stressed the obvious facts that: such deals strengthen terror organizations; such deals both encourage further kidnappings and encourage these organizations to up their demands for hostages already held; and trading live terrorists for dead Israelis further endangers other kidnapped Israelis by telling terrorists they can extort high prices even for their corpses.

The cabinet was also told by Mossad chief Meir Dagan and Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin—staunch opponents of the deal—that Kuntar’s inclusion means losing any further chance for genuine progress on the case of Ron Arad, since Kuntar was Israel’s last remaining bargaining chip for Arad.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, for his part, told the cabinet ...

Hezbollah, for its part, reacted by celebrating the cabinet’s decision and its Al-Manar Television called it “proof that the word of the resistance is the most faithful, strongest and supreme.”

The Palestinian Authority also expressed satisfaction. The PA had already been praising Kuntar and last week its official TV showed a picture of him next to a map of Israel covered by a Palestinian flag.

[forkinsocket]

Nonsense. Whoever goes into the army should go with full knowledge that they might not come back. If I die, I die. Avenge me, but don’t die for the sake of my useless dead body. Dammi mu aghla min dammak wa jismi mu aghla min jismak.

[American in Israel]

That is unfair and racist to have a double standard. Israel should apologize by returning the Terrorists in buckets to show true nonsocial bias.