Here is what I wrote a few years ago when the Israelis struck a deal with the Palestinians which called for Israel to release 199 Palestinian prisoners in return for two dead Israeli soldiers:
Such deals reflect the value Israeli leaders place on the lives of Israelis relative to Palestinians that is simply untenable. After all, it would seem more than fair to exchange one “high-value” Palestinian prisoner for two (dead) Israelis…
Therefore, it strikes me as a perverse form of jingoism for the Israelis to agree to such a lopsided exchange. I can see how it feeds resentment among Palestinians for their soldiers to be regarded so cheaply. More to the point, I can see why Palestinians consider kidnapping such a good strategy to execute against the Israelis in their neverending war.
(To Israel, 1 dead Jew is worth 100 living Palestinians, The iPINIONS Journal, July 17, 2008)
This is why I am not at all surprised by reports this week that the Israelis have just struck another deal with the Palestinians which calls for Israel to release 1000 Palestinian prisoners in return for one (still living) Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit – whom the Palestinians captured notoriously five years ago when he was only 19. Frankly, the only thing noteworthy about this development is the inflationary value for Israeli soldiers this latest deal reflects.
Hell, at this rate, if they can kidnap about 10 Israeli soldiers, the Palestinians might be able to force Israel to accede to their holy grail of statehood in return for releasing them….
Of course, I appreciate how much regard the Israelis have for their soldiers. Indeed, they even invaded the Gaza Strip in December 2008 in a futile attempt to rescue Shalit, losing 10 soldiers and killing 700 Palestinians in the process.
All the same, there’s no gainsaying the realization of my prediction that such unequal prisoner exchanges would set an untenable precedent for the Israelis, but a compelling one for the Palestinians. After all, here we are.
Now though it seems just a national embarrassment that the mighty Israel is resorting to this craven form of bartering to further its military objectives, especially since among the Palestinians being released are over 300 murderers and terrorists who have the blood of innocent Israelis on their hands.
One would’ve thought that if U.S. Special Forces could go all the way into Pakistan to kill Bin Laden, the much-vaunted Israeli Mossad could go next door into the Gaza Strip to rescue Shalit, no?
Not to mention how these deals betray the governing, foreign-policy principle of lex talionis (an eye for an eye) for which Israel was once feared and respected in equal measure.
In any case, this infamous prisoner exchange is scheduled to take place early next week.
Related commentaries:
1 Jew, 100 Arabs…
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