The Israeli cabinet ended a meeting earlier today having in essence agreed to pass the situation of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit, now approaching his 1,000th day as a prisoner of Hamas in Gaza, into the lap of the incoming Netanyahu government. Hamas has demanded the release of 1,400 “Palestinians” imprisoned in Israel for various crimes, 450 of them guilty of murdering Israelis by acts of terrorism, in exchange for this one son of Israel. This is one–one of the worst–of many grievously difficult choices forced upon the Israelis over the last 60-odd years by the intractable anti-Zionist hatred of their neighbors. They could agree to the exchange, as they’ve done a number of times, often enough trading live murderers for the dead bodies of their fallen soldiers. But should they? Should they have a hand in giving Hamas ever more jubilant confidence in its power to blackmail? Impossible choice for Israel, and further proof, if such were needed, of how very little the Palestinian “leaders” and their terror masters in Iran and Syria value the lives of their own. Something for the United States to ponder as it pursues “peace” in the region.
