Editorial Note– Is Gilad Shalit, the kidnapped Israeli soldier held by Hamas since 2006 actually going home, finally? The price paid… years of turmoil, thousands of criminals and terrorists traded by Israel for a single soldier, several years of rocket launches dating back to his capture, Hezbollah and Hamas waging almost continuous war, many Israeli concessions met by none from Hamas, and finally, he may be going home now.
Israeli Soldier - Gliad Shalit - Kidnapped June 25, 2006 by Hamas Gazans
How many Israelis kidnapped or captured have never come home? Propagandists and apolgists for the ‘Palestinians’ will ask the same, but moral equivalence has long since been totally debunked, and the ‘Palestinians’ have no credibility, yet the world always applies force to Israel alone.
Two reports tell us the details, and we encourage you to read both, and weigh the situation for your self:
Hamas will snatch more Israelis until all 8,000 Palestinian terrorists freed
Tuesday night, Oct. 10, the Israeli cabinet by a majority of 26 approved the accord with Hamas for the release of Gilead Shalit. Three ministers opposed the deal – Avigdor Lieberman and Uzzi Landau of the Israel Beteinu party and Moshe Yaalon of Likud.
The Israeli soldier will gain his freedom – probably next week – after he was hidden by Hamas in the Gaza Strip for more than five years. Israel will hand over 1,027 Palestinian terrorists, cutting short the life sentences of 280 mass murderers responsible for hundreds of Israeli deaths. Among them are Israeli Arabs and East Jerusalem residents convicted on charges of terrorismn as concessions made by Israel to clinch the deal. Of the 110 allowed to return to the West Bank and Jerusalem, 55 are members of Hamas.
All Israel’s security chiefs, from Defense Minister Ehud Barak, the Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, the Shin Bet Director Yoram Cohen and Mossad head Tamir Pardo, approved the exchange, which requires Israel to pay the highest price every to secure the release of one soldier. It means that hundreds of arch-terrorists, high-profile activists, will be turned loose, although most face deportation overseas, some to Turkey, or to the Gaza Strip.
Read the rest here.
Israel and Hamas are both winners and losers in Shalit swap deal
Never before has Israel paid so high a price for a single soldier, while Hamas must have been pushed into a corner to have agreed to such a dramatic compromise.
This Sunday will mark 25 years since Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad was taken captive, never to return. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s effort to conclude a deal for the return of Gilad Shalit, was meant to ensure that the kidnapped soldier would not share Arad’s fate. Barring any last-minute hitches, it seems Shalit will be home in a few days, after more than five years in captivity.
There have been many previous reports predicting that a deal would soon be signed, especially in the Arab press. But this time, there is good reason for optimism – mainly, the fact that both sides now seem serious about signing a deal whose outlines have been known for years: Israel will release some 450 Palestinians convicted of serious crimes in two stages, the first when Hamas transfers Shalit to Egypt and the second upon his return home. Some time later, Israel will free another 550 or so, to be billed as a gesture to Cairo. Hamas dictated the identity of the first 450; the remainder are at Israel’s discretion.
Read the rest here.
