The prisoner exchange of Gilad Shalit for over 1,000 Arab terrorists has sparked deep and powerful emotions from people across the globe. From all different spectrums, one way or another, everybody has something to say about the matter.
While there are many opinions and much back and forth, it basically boils down to two trains of though. The first one is, a “prisoner of war” must be freed under the banner of “No solider left behind”, even at the cost of freeing countless terrorists, while the second train of thought says, that while we want all prisoners to be freed, there has to be a limit on price.
“I believe that we have reached the best deal we could have at this time, when storms are sweeping the Middle East. I do not know if in the near future, we would have been able to reach a better deal or any deal at all. It is very possible that this window of opportunity that opened because of the circumstances would close indefinitely, and we would never have been able to bring Gilad home at all." So said Israeli prime minister Bibi Netanyahu on the release of Gilad Shalit. Shin Bet head Yoram Cohn, called it the "best deal possible under the circumstances." while mossad head Tamir Padro called the deal “manageable under the circumstances”.
However, what these and so many others are forgetting was the price tag that was attached to it. In exchange for the release of Shalit 1,027 terrorists, many with blood on their hands, and ready to murder again, were released from Israeli prison. Steven Plaut in his article “The Prisoner Exchange Absurdity”, brings out this point perfectly, and allow me to quote” The released terrorists are already being celebrated by the Palestinian barbarians as heroes and role models. It should not take long before the cost of saving the life of one Jew will turn out to be the deaths of many Jews”. So in short what Plaut was saying, was that even though we got released, and in essence saved a fellow Jews life, it doesn’t really matter, based on the fact that many more Jews will die because of this.
To counter this, we have J.J. Goldberg who in his article “Why Deal to Free Gilad Shalit Was Smart “breaks down the number of the terrorists that were released. He states that of the 1,027 terrorists released, more than 200 prisoners would be exiled, not sent home. Only about 100 will be let back home in the West Bank, where they’ll be barred from traveling abroad or entering Israel for a decade and required to check in with the Israeli army every month or be re-arrested. This leaves about 200 prisoners that are being returned to Gaza and to quote Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohn “There are 20,000 Izz al-Din al-Qassam fighters in Gaza. Another 200 terrorists won’t bring the world crashing down on us”.
We have Steven Plaut who tells us that released terrorists will resort back to their violent past, while on the flip side we have J.J. Goldberg who tells us that that a released terrorist is manageable. While both seem like very valid opinions, I personally tend to side with Plaut, who says that released terrorists will result in more violence and killings. I believe that terrorists belong behind bars for this way they won’t murder.
However, now that the terrorists are released, I hope not to be proven right.
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