What is Israel getting in return? Well, if you believe the reports from the Lebanese media, at least one body and possibly one live soldier (who can tell? Nasrallah isn’t saying), the bodies or body parts of other Israeli soldiers killed in the war and an incomplete report on the fate of Ron Arad. Can anybody else see how lopsided this deal is?

Firstly, and I know this has been beaten to death, but why would Israel give up live prisoners for just body parts and bodies? I do understand the strong Israeli sentiment for not leaving comrades on the field and this deal hopefully sets the counter to even. Other than Ron Arad, who’s fate is unknown, Israel gets to put to rest all their dead, giving closure to the families and a chance to truly mourn and move on. Still, its hard to stomach sending a vile animal like Kuntar free in order to get this done. Still, the man spent almost 30 years in prison for his crimes, and I take some solace that he might have to live in hiding like Nasrallah because there will still be a target on him. I hope he never knows a day of peace…always looking over his shoulder wondering when death will take him.

Also, since the first part of the swap, the report on Ron Arad, was incomplete I wonder what the rush was get the deal done regardless? Would the whole swap have fallen through if Israel pushed back? I don’t know, and likely we all never will. My thinking is too much momentum had built up to risk having this deal fall through. I do believe though that Nasrallah needed this to happen more than Israel (to bolster his standing, which has fallen in recent months) so I cant see why Israel wouldn’t use that as leverage.

In Lebanon, there will only be celebrations for the return of their imprisoned. Honors and accolades will be heaped on the Hezbollah fighters and there will be much happiness. The only absurdity I hope isn’t lost on the world is that Kuntar will be the most honored. A man so brave he shot a father, execution style, in front of his 4 year old daughter and then crushed her skull with a rifle butt against a rock by the beach. This is who Lebanon chooses to honor as a hero. All who celebrate are as despicable as he is. They all deserve each other.

We all know Nasrallah will use this as a podium to declare victory against Israel again. And in Arab eyes, he will be seen victorious. Never mind he put much of Lebanon in ruin. With the reconfiguration of the government there and now this, Hezbollah is on a roll. Lets hope they don’t get too big for their britches and decide to attack Israel again.

For better or for worse (for worse), what’s done is done, and at 9am tomorrow, Israel time, this swap will take place. I only hope that this is the end of every ass Israel has to kiss to get their boys back. Oh wait!! I forgot about the ass kissing they will need to do to get Gilad Shalit back. And the terrible deal they will need to make as well. The precedent has already been set by this bad deal. My only hope is that at some point, someones will put the brakes on this runaway idiocy and do something to turn the rules of the game back in Israel’s favor.

A couple of thoughts:

1) This seems to be a very steep price to pay if they aren’t alive. And I don’t see how this won’t encourage more kidnappings in the future

2) I don’t see why Hamas wouldn’t raise its already nutty demands for Shalit even more. It seems Israel will pay ANY price, even insanely high ones. It’s a noble sentiment, but it’s got to run up against the law of diminishing returns at some point, no?

3) I still think this is a bad deal. At least we know Shalit’s alive so I can see giving more for him than Kuntar and everything else for 2 corpses.

I’m sure everyone will be disgusted to see Kuntar and the other live fighters and Fakestinians paraded around Beirut as heroes. Look who Lebanon honors…a child killer….yay!! Israel, by contrast, will likely be host to 2 more state funerals. I hope this sad chapter is the beginning of healing for the Regev and Goldwasser families and for everyone affected by this tragedy.

…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.

OK, no body died yet, but its just a matter of time before damage is done to something other than property.

Now Hamas have turned into whiners, accusing Israel of breaking the cease-fire by closing the Gaza crossings for the last 2 days in response to violations emanating from Gaza. These clowns want it both ways. Islamic Jihad are the ones launching the rockets claiming violations in the ‘West-Bank’ which is NOT covered by this agreement with Hamas. Hamas washes their hands of it saying that they aren’t Israel’s police force. So, Israel closed the crossings instead of launching counter-strikes. No, thats not the call of the muezzin you hear from Gaza. Cue the whining.

I thought the whole point of this cease-fire was that any and all violence out of Gaza would come to a halt and Israel would stop their retaliation in Gaza and open the crossings. Israel lived up to its end, so why can’t Hamas? If Hamas is the elected government in Gaza, should they not hearken to the spirit of the agreement if not the letter? Does anyone think that if Israelis unaffiliated with the IDF starting launching projectiles into Beit Hanoun, that Hamas would accept Israel telling them they aren’t Hamas’ police force? Please! These whiners want a one way cease-fire that can be violated without repercussions.

This was a bad deal in the first place and it’s only delaying the inevitable foray into Gaza to put an end to this nonsense. About the only good thing to come out of the cease-fire was the residents of Sderot catching a few days rest from the falling rockets, but that appears over, sadly.

Most of the opinion pieces I have read till now have seemed more neutral or supportive of the deals. ‘Israel must bring it’s sons home at any price’, has been the drumbeat. Well, it appears that some doubts are arising over whether the public really stands to benefit from the proposed swaps as they stand or if they hurt Israel’s standing for the future should there be again a need for negotiations of this nature.

Read here and here

This is the kind of stuff you hate being right about, but if Israel is held to the will of these families and make a terrible deal (again), it will only encourage future bad deals as a result of more kidnappings.

Well, looks like I called it. Take a look at this article in Haaretz today. No use releasing Kuntar for more bones. If Hizbullah wants their troops/prisoners back, they are going to have to do a better job keeping them alive. Or not starting wars in the first place.

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.

But, in the entire time since the kidnapping and the war, there has been ZERO sign of life from Regev or Goldwasser. Not a peep. No letters. No videotapes. No Red Cross visits. Nothing. Unless everyone is keeping their lips glued for the sake of this ‘deal’, there is no reason to believe they are alive. They were mortally injured upon their capture, so there is no reason to assume they got medical care immediately. Hamas may be similar scum, but at least they occasionally pass some signs of life regarding Shalit so there is reason to think about giving them what they want. This latest musing about declaring them dead is a pressure tactic to get Hizbullah to show something of value or get less in return. Why give Kuntar back for a box of bones?

With all due respect to the Goldwasser and Regev family, soldiers get lost in war. War is never fair and never without pain. But the asking price for their likely dead sons is too high and Israel should not pay such steep prices so as to encourage further kidnappings. There is a law of diminishing returns here and Israel has to look out for the rest of it’s soldiers and citizens who haven’t been kidnapped and not make deals that encourage future snatchings. Not leaving a solider on the field is a noble sentiment, but in practice it’s unrealistic. All soldiers go into battle knowing they may not come back alive. Some don’t come back at all. It’s just the way of things. Maybe someday when there is actual peace (in the year 9000) everyone can trade back everyones remains. Today isn’t that day.

If the soldiers are alive, I will be among those celebrating their return, even for a scumbag like Kuntar. But whoever is pulling this tactic to pressure Hizullah is smart. Nasrallah needs Kuntar back for PR reasons, so Israel twisting his arm a little bit is smart. Get him to pony up live soldiers or risk having the deal fail and Kuntar still rotting in jail. I’m OK with that.

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?

In short, he’s a Lebanese Druze and a member of the Palestinian Liberation Front. In 1979, him and a bunch of his buddies took a night-time boat cruise to Nahariya in northern Israel, killed 2 policemen and then paid a visit to the Haran household. At the same time they kidnapped the father (Danny Haran) and daughter (Einat), the mother (Smadar) hid in a crawl-space above the bedroom with her other daughter (Yael) and accidently suffocated her to death in an attempt to make sure she didnt cry, thus revealing her location to the terrorist team. Kuntar then had them brought to the beach and personally killed Danny Haran and his daughter Einat. More specifically, he shot Danny in front of his daughter and then hit Einat in the head with a rifle butt until her skull caved in. And not only did he admit to this when caught, but it was actually a point of pride for him and is to this day. This is the disgusting scumbag without remorse who is being considered for release for the 2 soldiers mentioned above.

Is this a ‘good’ deal in any way for Israel? A few points:

1) A guy like Kuntar is a good reason for Israel to institute the death penalty for murder. In the same breath, without him, I don’t know what Israel would have to give up in exchange for the kidnapped soldiers. Executing terrorists (after due process) is a good way to ensure that future kidnapped Israelis are executed immediately upon capture. It’s a sick game, but this part of the world doesn’t seem to operate normally.

2) There has been NO proof of life for either of these soldiers since their capture. Israel already determined they were both likely badly wounded in the initial attack and would have needed immediate medical care. I think the expectation should be that they are dead…that way we can be pleasantly surprised if it turns out they are both alive. Israel’s enemies never let on who is dead or alive while Israeli prisoners all seem to have their own publicist. That for sure needs to stop. They can meet with their lawyers, but perhaps there should be a gag order on what their lawyers can say on their client’s behalf to the media.

3) How does the government explain this to the Haran and Arad families (Kuntar was supposed to be returned first for Ron Arad, then his body and then information on his whereabouts) in any way that will make sense? People are supposed to pay for their crimes. This doesn’t send the right message…’if the price is right, your murderer will go free?’ Again, on the other hand, it might give closure or even a happy ending to the Goldwasser and Regev families and again affirm Israel’s stance about never leaving soldiers on the battlefield. It’s a mixed bag and way you look at it.

Time will tell if this comes to fruition. I don’t like this deal much as it gives Hizbullah a ‘victory’ and credibility, but to obtain Regev’s and Goldwasser’s return, especially if they are alive, would likely be worth it for the joy it would being Israel and Jews around the world. It would be the same thing if and when Israel can get Shalit back from Hamas. Unfettered joy all around, for better or worse.