Free Gilad Shalit, Now!! Swap PM Olmert for him

Israpundit ^ | July 6, 2007 | Jerry Gordon and Lori Lowenthal Marcus

[Zionista Feminista]

Free Gilad Shalit, Now!! Swap PM Olmert for him

by Jerry Gordon and Lori Lowenthal Marcus

Everyone celebrated this week when kidnapped BBC Gaza correspondent, Alan Johnston, was sprung by Hamas forces in Gaza .

The story told by the approving world media was that Hamas tightened the noose around the captors, laying siege to the hideout until Johnston was relinquished. An act of persistence and bravado by Hamas in a selfless gesture to rescue an ally. In the wake of these dizzying turn of events, Johnston received a human rights award from none other than Amnesty International.

We wistfully recall the derring-do of Israelis who, despite impossible odds, stopped at nothing to bring home any and all countrymen being held captive by terrorist thugs. Think Entebbe . Times have changed and the methods have ‘morphed’ into something mind numbing.

Now Israeli leaders speak about “painful concessions,” “being tired of fighting,” and extol the virtues of prisoner swaps.

So, in these changed circumstances, an idea came to us that fits prevailing appeasing diplomacy. The PR spinmeistering potential would be stupendous. The act we suggest would catapult the approval ratings of the Israeli Prime Minster up to – at least – the high single digits from his current ’skim milk levels,’ quite a dramatic reversal for Olmert. What we are suggesting is a prisoner swap that will earn Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert a glowing entry in the annals of Israeli war heroes.

Why not swap Ehud Olmert for Gilad Shalit!

Olmert will be cloaked in glory and likely nominated for a Nobel peace prize. As a politician whose modus operandi has been to astound the world with his contortionist backbending gestures of good will towards the bitter enemies of Israel, what greater opportunity could there be to engage in round-the-clock dialogue and fawning tete a tetes with Hamas? After all, Olmert outdid himself recently by flying the PLO flag at his official residence when PA Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas came for tea. Why shouldn’t Hamas use at least some of the goodies Israel is trucking into Gaza as “humanitarian” gestures to provide for the comfort of the swapped prisoner? What better method than this selfless act of humanity to pre-empt the rising crescendo of calls for Olmert’s resignation ignited, at least in part, by his anticipated routing in the Final Winograd Commission Report soon to be released this summer?

Prisoner swaps have not historically yielded net gains for Israel . This swap, we dare say, will be welcomed by all.

Has something of this nature occurred before? Yes, you may recall that the fabled American comedians Jack Benny and Carole Lombard starred in a movie back in 1942, remade in the 1980’s by Mel Brooks: “To be or not to be”. You know the one directed by Hollywood legend Ernst Lubitsch about the Polish theater troop in Nazi occupied Warsaw masquerading as Nazis scrambling to fly out to safety in wartime Great Britain .

There’s a scene in the final frames of that comedy where an actor, portrayed by one of the Three Stooges masquerading as Hitler parachutes out of the stolen aircraft and lands in a hayfield. The actors portraying two British farmers prod a haystack with pitchforks and up pops the Hitler look alike. The tag line was”first Hess, now him” A reference to deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess who flew a Messerschmitt fighter and crash landed in Scotland in May 1941 seeking an audience with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to make ‘peace.” Didn’t work, Hess ended his days as the sole prisoner in Allied occupied Spandau prison in Germany following the Nuremberg trial sentence and died there in 1987.

Now, we’re not drawing any comparison between Olmert and feckless Rudolph Hess. After all, Olmert isn’t that stupid to sacrifice himself and his career for freedom of a fellow Israeli. Or is he?

[Spirochete]

An act of persistence and bravado by Hamas in a selfless gesture to rescue an ally.

Beep reporter = Hamas ally.

Bingo.

[Alouette]

Swap PM Olmert for him

As a bonus, throw in Shimon Peres and Ehud Barak. Heck, give 'em the whole Kadima gang.

[elhombrelibre]

Seems unlikely to work. They’d want someone more significant than the man they kidnapped.

[elhombrelibre]

Thanks. Someone had to say it.

[elhombrelibre]

It doesn't work. Gilad Shalit was involved in the defense of Israel. The trade wouldn't be equal.

[Convert from ECUSA]

I second the motion!