One Thousand Days

It has been 1,000 days since Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel and attacked an Israeli patrol, killing two soldiers and taking Gilad Shalit back into Gaza.

It has been 1,000 days of hearing the same story from Hamas: they demand the release of hundreds of terrorists before considering the release of Shalit.

It has been 1,000 days of watching the Israeli government under Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promise to do all it can to secure Shalit's release and yet come up short when it had the ability to do so during Operation Cast Lead.

Hamas knows it has a winning hand in capturing Israelis for use as pawns in trades to release its terrorists from Israeli prisons. Israel values the life of a single soldier more than Hamas values the lives of hundreds of its terrorists. They've seen Israel make similar deals before - the release of hundreds of Hizbullah in exchange for the remains of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, including the mass murderer Samir Kuntar.

The incoming Israeli government will have to deal with this situation, and I'm not sure that they will do any better, particularly if they continue to work on what is essentially a prisoner swap. Hamas has repeatedly stated its intent to attempt other attacks to capture Israelis for use in still more prisoner swaps. The Israeli military knows this and has trained for that possibility, but nothing can prepare them for a government that chooses not to act.

The Israeli government has failed the Shalit family and given them false hope over the past 1,000 days. It is my belief that Shalit is no longer alive, and that's why the terrorists have refused to not only release Shalit on its own (a humanitarian gesture and one that would expose the terrorists as the bloodthirsty terrorists I have repeatedly shown them to be).

Hamas has refused to engage in humanitarian gestures such as allowing the ICRC access to Shalit or to release Shalit ahead of various Jewish holidays even as Hamas demands Israel release prisoners for Muslim holidays and as humanitarian gestures. Israel has even done so, without getting anything in return except a continuation of the Hamas rocket war on Israel.