Israel is caving on an issue where she has caved before: Olmert is going to allow Palestinian terrorists who were involved in murdering Israelis to be swapped for Gilad Shalit. He is signaling Hamas and Hezbollah that their tactic of kidnapping soldiers is a good one, and will get them back hundreds of their own for one or two of Israel’s.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is trying to relax the criteria for releasing Palestinian prisoners, a move that could advance efforts to free a captured Israeli soldier, officials said Monday.
Israel’s stated policy is to refuse early releases to Palestinians involved in attacks on Israelis, even though it has relaxed that policy in past prisoner swaps. On Monday, a key ally of Olmert’s will convene a meeting of senior ministers to ask them to approve the release of prisoners involved in attempted attacks, officials said.
“We are in such a situation that, if we continue with the criteria that were used in the past, there will be no one else left to free,” Ephraim Sneh, a lawmaker in the influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, told Army Radio. “If we want to free prisoners … And bring about the release of Gilad Shalit, we will have to broaden this.”
Really? No one left to free? Well, then perhaps they should stay in prison. Because freed terrorists have committed more terror attacks on Israelis once they’re, gee, free to do so.
Palestinian militants, freed in past prisoner releases by Israel, were responsible for at least 30 terror attacks which claimed the lives of 177 Israelis, according to a study published yesterday by Almagor, an organization representing the victims of Palestinian terrorism. The report’s publication came in response to yesterday’s release of 429 Palestinians jailed in Israeli prisons. According to the report, 6,912 militants were released between the years 1993 and 1999, and nearly 80 percent of them returned to terrorist activity.
So apparently, Olmert thinks that a 1-for-177 ratio isn’t bad. Or that 80 percent of freed terrorists returning to terrorism is a number he can live with.
And the endless cycle of Israeli stupidity continues. It doesn’t seem to matter who is in the Premier’s office. Ariel Sharon released terrorists, too.
So, how many terrorists is Gilad Shalit worth? Apparently, about 500.
According to the sources, in exchange for Shalit Israel would be willing to release 500 Palestinian prisoners, most of whom were apprehended prior to the outbreak of the al-Aqsa intifada in September 2000.
As part of the deal, the sources told the newspaper, Israel would also release members of the Palestinian Legislative Council who were detained in the aftermath of the IDF soldier’s abduction by Gaza terrorists in a cross-border raid on June 25, 2006.
Of course, we’ve had word of deals like this reach almost as high a fever pitch before, only to fall through completely when Hamas changes its demands to add another thousand or so terrorists. I won’t be surprised if that happens this time, too.