Goldwasser and Regev Return To Israel In Coffins

Israeli authorities have given positive identifications to the remains in coffins delivered by the Islamic terrorist group Hizbullah as Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. Video of the transfer can be seen here.

It was an incredibly high price to pay for the return of those men.

Israel released five terrorists, including the child murderer Samir Kuntar. Kuntar's being received as a conquering hero, and the government of Lebanon via Hizbullah is pulling out all the stops.

The Palestinians are also celebrating the release of Kuntar, passing out candies. Abbas congratulates his fellow terrorists. The sickening display once again underscores just what these people seek. They want Israel destroyed, and it doesn't matter who stands in their way. Kuntar murdered two children and their father before being captured by Israeli security forces after his terror cell invaded Israel to carry out attacks.

His group's motivation? Egypt and Israel had signed a peace treaty in 1979.

UPDATE:
More than a few media outlets consider this to be a prisoner swap. Sorry, but this is nothing more than terrorists for coffins. That goes for MSNBC and New York Times, among others.

The terrorists were convicted of murdering Israelis, including children. Hizbullah captured Goldwasser and Regev to secure a prisoner release - and they got exactly what they hoped out of the deal. They got terrorists released from Israeli prisons, and will receive them as conquering heroes.

UPDATE:
The Israeli Consulate in New York sent out the following:

July 16th, 2008
Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev Returned to Israel in Today's Prisoner Exchange


The bodies of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were returned to Israel on Wednesday, 16 July 2008 along with additional recovered remains of soldiers who fell during the Second Lebanon War. In exchange, Israel returned Samir Kuntar and four other Lebanese terrorists, as well as the bodies of dozens of infiltrators and terrorists to Lebanon .

Israel has a duty, as a nation and as a people, to protect those who risk their lives to defend its citizens. Every Israeli soldier knows that his country will do its utmost to retrieve him should he fall into enemy hands. This is an expression of Israel 's deep reverence for human life and of its respect for the fallen. This principle stems from Israel 's sense of morality as well as from Jewish ethics and is a demonstration of Israel 's moral and physical strength.

It is morally reprehensible that Samir Kuntar, a vile child-killer, is now being hailed as a hero in Lebanon . As this YouTube video makes clear, his crimes are truly reprehensible and are condemned by every decent society. Hizbullah, just like any other society, can be judged by whom it chooses to idolize and to hold up as an example for its youth. Yet as an extremist Islamist organization, it chooses to worship death and destruction while clinging to its goal of destroying Israel .

This exchange to return IDF soldiers does not legitimize Hizbullah. Israel 's decision to return its soldiers should not be interpreted as indicating any change in Israel 's policy towards this Iranian-sponsored terrorist organization. The international community must continue to recognize the danger posed by Hizbullah and its extremist cohorts to the stability of the Middle East and should redouble its support of the pragmatic elements in the region, who seek to make peace through dialogue and compromise.

Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev will be laid to rest tomorrow, 17 July 2008, in Israeli military cemeteries.

There are some kernels of truth in this, namely that one can judge Hizbullah by who it seeks to elevate as heroes. They are terrorists, and honor those who murder Israelis.

Still, to claim that the return of IDF soldiers doesn't legitimize Hizbullah is the height of folly. Of course it does. It also lays the groundwork for Hizbullah to undertake further infiltration operations to capture Israelis so that they too can be used as pawns in terrorist releases from Israeli jails.

If it was so morally reprehensible to release Samir Kuntar, why did Peres issue a pardon? That wasn't a necessary precondition to his release.

UPDATE:
Besides providing the five live terrorists including Kuntar, Israel is returning to sender the remains of 180 Hizbullah. And Hizbullah will honor each with a glorious welcome and party on while Israel grieves.