So, it had come down to this. Tomorrow, Israel will send back the murderer, Samir Kuntar, 4 Hezbollah fighters captured in the 2006 Lebanon War along with the bodies of almost 200 Hezbollah fighters, the release of an as yet undetermined number of Palestinian prisoners and a report on Iranian diplomats kidnapped in the 1980’s.

What is Israel getting in return? Well, if you believe the reports from the Lebanese media, Read more »

Although we aren’t privy to the agreement signed by Olmert and Nasrallah, we can be pretty sure that the swap is on course. Today, the IDF Rabbinate confirmed they have begun exhuming the bodies of fallen Hezbollah fighters from a cemetery near Kibbutz Amiad. The deal is expected to go through very quickly with the culmination in about another week and 1/2. Read more »

I’m sure by this point, everyone has heard just about everything there is to hear in regards to the attack on Yaffa Street yesterday. 3 people (I had said 4, sorry) were laid to rest yesterday and today and scores more are still injured, physically and emotionally. We’ve heard cries for knocking down the terrorist’s house from Olmert and others and hand-wringing from the family members. A few things stuck out in my mind:

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In yet another case of some Haredim having way too much time on their hands, the latest crusade has been against MP4 players that are pre-loaded with content being sold in Mea Shearim. There was a discussion/ruling on this at and by the ‘Orthodox Righteous Court of Law’ Read more »

On the day after the prisoner swap, there has been a ton of hand- wringing in the media. Did Israel or didn’t Israel do the right thing? Was too high a price paid or was this the only move they could have made? There were some surprises. Read more »

I was a little sad to wake up this morning and see that the prisoner swap was passed by a huge majority of the cabinet over the objections of the Mossad and the GSS. I can’t say I 100% blame them for going that route. This puts an end to another chapter for both Israel and Lebanon. Israel gets back Goldwasser and Regev (and we get to see if they are actually alive) and some information on Ron Arad’s whereabouts. Read more »

I don’t think anyone expected the cease-fire that went into effect recently to last very long, so we can do away with pretending to be surprised that Qassams are being launched into Israel. How long did that take…72 hours? 96 hours?  As I said in this post:

…the ‘truce’ will be short lived. Someone in Gaza won’t be able to stop themselves from firing a Qassam or a GRAD rocket that will hurt or kill an Israeli or a foreign worker.

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So, if you read my post the other day, I had figured they were going to declare the soldiers dead to pressure Hizbullah to either put up or shut up as to Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev’s condition, and to make sure they if they were dead, Kuntar wouldn’t be released. Read more »

Reading the news today garnered one interesting story about what’s going on in Israel. More specifically with the deal Israel is trying to complete with Hizbullah for the return of Goldwasser and Regev for Kuntar and others.

There is an apparent push by the IDF Chief Rabbi to declare the soldiers missing in action and dead. Why this comes up right now seems to be a mystery as there has been plenty of time to do so beforehand. My guess? Israel didn’t want to prejudice the negotiations with Hizbullah and set the bar too low in terms of what Nasrallah would ask as his price for their return. At least if they gave Nasrallah hope, Israel might have hope to regain their stolen sons. Read more »

Unless you’ve been under a rock for the last few weeks, you’ve heard the drum-beat growing louder. A deal is in the works: Goldwasser and Regev, two IDF soldiers who’s kidnapping across the Lebenese border by Hizbullah sparked the 2006 war between Lebanon and Israel may be on their way back to Israel in a deal with Hizbullah brokered by Germany.

There is no way anyone anywhere doesn’t want to see these soldiers returned back home. The only thing that’s going to leave a sour taste in everyones mouth is what its going to cost to get them back. In addition to a bunch of no-name Hizbullah grunts and possibly a few bodies, Israel is more than likely going to have to give up Samir Kuntar. Who is Kuntar, do you ask? Read more »