Outgoing Olmert Government Opening Pandora's Box

Not only are they contemplating some kind of a deal that ties Gilad Shalit's release to a hudna with Hamas, but they're contemplating the release of another major terrorist so as to bolster the terrorist group Fatah. Fatah is no friend of Israel and seeks Israel's destruction no less so than Hamas, but are more likely to see Israel destroyed by paper cuts than through suicide bombers at present.

Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is trying to negotiate a last-minute deal with Hamas under which Israel would release 1,000 or more Palestinian prisoners in exchange for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

To help Fatah, one idea under discussion was the possibility of releasing Barghouti ahead of the prisoner swap with Hamas, according to Israel's Channel 10 television. An Israeli source told Reuters this option was under consideration but that no decisions have been taken.

"There will not be a Shalit deal without the release of Marwan Barghouti," Barghouti's lawyer, Hader Shkirat, told Israel's Channel 10 television.

The inept and ruinous Olmert government is now contemplating releasing Marwan Barghouti to bolster Fatah even as they're looking to deal with Hamas - releasing more than a thousand terrorists to secure the release of Gilad Shalit or the possibility of reopening the Gaza crossings in exchange for Shalit.

If that sounds familiar, it should. It's the same kind of nonsense we've been hearing ever since Shalit was taken by Hamas thugs in a terror operation that killed two other Israeli soldiers. Israel releasing prisoners in exchange for freeing its own soldiers is a disastrous policy and one that only spurs the terror groups to proclaim victory and seek out still more Israelis to be used as bargaining chips. It undermines Israel's national security, and yet this is the path taken by Olmert and Kadima, which runs counter to the very way that new Kadima head, Foreign Minister Livni has sought to portray herself. Kadima will continue down this route, despite the multiple failings of this policy.

Hamas probably considers this changed stance a breakthrough since they're not being forced to make any concessions at all. Israel is the one conceding without getting anything in return.

Israel is not getting improved security.

Israel is not getting a cessation of the kassam rockets and mortar attacks, which have continued ever since the end of Operation Cast Lead. Rockets continue slamming into Israel today.

Hamas is going to use this time to regroup and rearm.

Hamas will continue attacking Israel, hoping to ratchet up the violence over time just as it has done in the past. IED attacks will continue.

Hamas will continue using civilian areas to rebuild its terror infrastructure and consolidate its grip on Gaza for the inevitable next round of its war against Israel's existence.

Hamas will use the latest discussions to claim victory over Israel, despite the toll on its terror infrastructure when Israel did use its military force to strike at Hamas for just about three weeks.

Hamas is also claiming that they hold the remains of an Israeli soldier killed in Operation Cast Lead as a bargaining chip to release still more terrorists from Israeli jails. Israel has no comment about the claim.

Fatah is playing its part in the charade by claiming it will fire a bunch of pro-Hamas mullahs in the West Bank. These people were on the payroll - spreading their message of hate and venom against Israel, but Fatah needs to show that they can play along with Israel to the barest minimum so you get displays such as this. They haven't fired them, despite the fact that Oslo and all the successive peace process documents call on the PA to eliminate acts of incitement against Israel.

This once again exposes the PA failings; they choose to ignore the incitement to violence against Israel, allowing the extremists within to spread their message of hate and destruction and only when the money is on the line do they take the bare minimum action. It bears watching to see whether they actually do fire them or just use this story as proof they're doing something about it.

There are also reports that terrorists "escaped" from a PA facility in the West Bank. That's mighty convenient. It's revolving door justice - Fatah rounds up Hamas and makes a big show of it, and then turn around and release them or "allow" Hamas to break out.

A PA security officer, Majid Faraj, who heads the PA’s military intelligence service in Judea and Samaria, previously stated that the escaped prisoners had been held for non-terror related crimes. He, however, admitted that four of the prisoners are “wanted by Israeli intelligence.”

PA security is presently on a wide-scale manhunt to attempt to recapture the fugitives, who had escaped from prison on Friday from the PA-controlled city of Jericho. According to some reports, some of the fugitives are former terrorists who signed “amnesty” papers in which they agree to spend time in PA prisons in lieu of extradition to Israel for imprisonment.

Last March, the Arab terrorists who murdered two young Jewish men at Nahal Telem in the Hevron area in January reportedly escaped a PA prison. Israeli security experts expressed doubts about the veracity of the March prison escape story, which has been used repeatedly to cover the PA’s release of terrorists in its custody.