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.

Underscoring Hizbullah's Victory

Samir Kuntar says he's going to continue the murderous legacy of Imad Mughniyeh (Mugh the Thug). Who actually thought otherwise? Anyone?

Kuntar was welcomed back to Lebanon as a hero. Some hero. He murdered innocent and defenseless children.



Hizbullah praised him to no end and pulled out all the stops in major rallies celebrating the return of this murderous terrorist and child killer. He was welcomed by thousands in his hometown. Iran cheered.

Israelis meanwhile, buried Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev yesterday. While I share in their families' grief, the decision to return live terrorists so that they can continue their deadly goals is a serious mistake that Israel will regret. Considering a death penalty for terrorists is not a bad idea, though the terrorists might consider capturing Israelis so that they can reclaim the bodies.

Curiously, the Arab media appears to mock the Hizbullah claims that they won, noting the catastrophic toll on Lebanon in the Hizbullah war with Israel.

These Arab countries fail to realize that everyone else can and will suffer at the hands of these Islamists in their pursuit of their ultimate goal of destroying Israel. It doesn't matter to them how many Arabs (Muslim or otherwise) are killed in fighting Israel so long as Israel loses eventually. This is why the terrorists go to such lengths to claim that those Muslims who die are considered martyrs. The religious veneer covers up their destructive intentions, though as we've seen in Iraq, the people harmed most by such fighting and death and destruction will take only so much of it before they stand up against the terrorists and cast them out.

With Hizbullah firmly in charge in Lebanon, that is an incredibly difficult task, especially with Syrian and Iranian support.

UPDATE:
Carl in Jerusalem notes that Hizbullah mutilated the bodies of Goldwasser and Regev. I doubt we'll ever hear an outcry against the terrorists when they torture their victims, behead them, mutilate them, and desecrate their remains.

UPDATE:
Hot Air also comments on Hizbullah's odious displays, including Nazi salutes, in the course of welcoming home Kuntar as a conquering hero.

Meryl Yourish has a roundup of reaction. Israellycool calls this the expected consequences. He's right.

At least some Lebanese are wondering why everyone is going out of their way to label Kuntar a hero. Lebanon Iznogood calls Kuntar a scumbag. Abu Kais notes what Hizbullah wrought on Lebanon.

UPDATE:
Meanwhile, Charles Johnson came upon this odious photo, which once again underscores just how useless the UN is in dealing with the Islamic terrorist group Hizbullah. They saluted the remains of the terrorists who Israel returned to Lebanon.

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.

Hizbullah Crows; Israel Rolls

As my friend Legalbgl notes below, Israel has capitulated and will be releasing the terrorist child murderer Samir Kuntar in exchange for the remains of Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. It is a serious mistake, and was the reason that those soldiers were captured by Hizbullah in the first place.

Their capture was meant to pressure Israel into releasing terrorists held by Israel. Hamas still holds out hope that a similar deal will result in more Palestinian terrorists released by Israel in exchange for Gilad Shalit.

The Israeli government approved the Hizbullah prisoner swap, and Hizbullah crows loudly that they won.

They did.

And in the following months, the UN did nothing as Hizbullah regrouped, rearmed, and essentially took over the Lebanese government with veto power.

Now, they will celebrate the release of terrorists from Israeli prisons.

UPDATE:
I urge you to read the following, because it highlights what I've been saying here for some time now.

The famous example of Entebbe—when Israeli commandos raided a Ugandan airport 32 years ago and liberated dozens of hostages in one of the most heroic forays of the Israel Defense Forces—was the exception, not the rule. The truth is that in most cases, Israel will pay any price to get its soldiers back.

And that is a weakness exploited time and time again by Israel's enemies.

UPDATE:
Israeli President Shimon Peres pardoned Kuntar. Why? Since when has these prisoner swaps included pardons for past crimes against Israelis? They don't.

Israel Cabinet Ratifies Deal for Return of Abducted Soldiers

I just received the following Press Release from The Israel Project, and I must say how disappointed I am in the Israeli government.

The Israeli Cabinet today (July 15) authorized the release of convicted murderer Samir Kuntar in exchange for Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, two Israelis abducted by Iran-backed Hezbollah in July 2006 as they patrolled Israel’s side of the border with Lebanon. Four members of Hezbollah, captured during the ensuing war, are also scheduled for release in the prisoner exchange agreement. [1]

Israel is also expected to release the remains of several Palestinian and Lebanese terrorists who carried out some of the most brutal attacks of the conflict. These include the remains of terrorists who carried out the Ma’alot massacre of 1974, in which members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine murdered 22 Israeli high-school students in the city of Ma’alot in northern Israel.[2]

The bodies of the terrorists who carried out the Coastal Road Massacre in 1978 are also scheduled for return to Lebanon tomorrow, including the remains of Dalal Mughrabi, the leader of the attack. In this terrorist assault, members of Fatah hijacked a bus on Israel’s coastal road and killed 35 civilians, including 13 children. This attack led directly to Israel’s operation in southern Lebanon, Operation Litani, aimed at destroying the Palestinian terrorist infrastructure in that region.[3]

Other bodies which are due to be transferred to Hezbollah include the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists responsible for the attack on Kibbutz Matzuba in 2002, in which six Israeli civilians were murdered. The terrorists had been working in conjunction with Hezbollah.[4]

In April 1979, Kuntar, a member of the Palestine Liberation Front – part of the Palestine Liberation Organization - led a terrorist cell that infiltrated Israel and shot to death 28-year-old Danny Haran in front of his 4-year old daughter Einat near their home in the northern Israeli town of Nahariya. Kuntar then killed Einat by smashing her head against a rock with his rifle butt. Two Israeli police officers were also killed during the attack.

Kuntar was caught by Israeli police and was tried and convicted on four counts of murder. He was given four life sentences. [5]

Goldwasser and Regev were abducted by Hezbollah when a cell of the terrorist group in Lebanon infiltrated the internationally recognized border with Israel, fired on two Israel Defense Forces (IDF) jeeps and detonated explosives nearby. At the time, the soldiers were on a routine patrol of the border. [6]

Hezbollah killed eight soldiers in attacks during the day while at the same time firing thousands of rockets and mortar shells into northern Israeli communities. Goldwasser and Regev were reportedly taken into Lebanon and authorities said then that they believed they were alive at the time of their kidnapping. There have been no signs of life from them since then. [7]

The attack sparked a month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah. Since the cessation of hostilities, both sides have been in negotiations via mediators to exchange captives and war dead. Goldwasser at the time was almost 31; Regev was 27. [8]

On June 1, 2008, Israel released Nassim Nasser, a spy convicted of espionage on behalf of Iran-backed Hezbollah. On the same day, Hezbollah released partial remains of five Israeli soldiers killed in the 2006 war with Hezbollah. [9] In total, 20 IDF soldiers were not buried intact. [10]

Kuntar has promised to carry out futher terrorist attacks after his release and Palestinian Authority TV has called him a national hero.

Read the last paragraph again -- Kuntar has promised to carry out further attacks after his release. This cold blooded killer has vowed to kill again, and Israel is RELEASING him. I understand the desire to secure the release of Goldwasser and Regev, who, in violation of international law, have been kidnapped for more than two years by Hezbollah. However, to release a murderer, who has vowed to murder again, is crazy.

These prisoner exchanges are exactly the reason that Goldwasser and Regev were kidnapped for in the first place. Hezbollah knows full well that Israel will concede in these matters to secure the safe release of their citizens. What will it take for Israel to realize that they compromise their own security in doing so?

What will Israel offer up to secure the release of Gilad Shalit? Also being held, against international law, for more than 2 years, this time by Hamas.

Where is the world outrage that three soldiers, have been kidnapped, denied visitation by the Red Cross, have more than likely suffered torture (at least mental, if not physical), denied any form of due process or habeas corpus. This is more than the world holding Israel to a higher standard than any other could ever achieve, this is crickets chirping in the silence for three violations of world law! The world decries the "harsh" treatment of the Gitmo prisoners, yet is out right silent as to three prisoners in the hand of Hezbollah and Hamas. Why is the world not crazy that in order to secure the release of two of these prisoners, a CONVICTED MURDERER IS BEING SET FREE!!! A convicted murderer who was given due process, legal representation, a fair trial and the rights to appeal.

Not only has Israel been weakened by this exchange, the world has been embarrassed! The UN has again proven how ineffectual and absolute useless that it is. As an international body it is a joke. Its disbandment is surely warranted.

My only hope is that Kuntar not live long enough for Israel to regret this action.

Talk Is Cheap

We're hearing plenty of news reports these days about talks between Hamas and Israel and Hizbullah and Israel. The talks revolve around all of the same contentions from two years ago, and resolution still remains wholly in the hands of the terrorists since they are the ones holding Israeli soldiers after capturing them in infiltration operations designed to force Israel to release hundreds of terrorists from Israeli jails.

First, there's the talk of Hizbullah releasing Regev and Goldwasser. Regev's father has been told that a prisoner swap is receiving serious consideration. Why would Israel do such a thing considering that Hizbullah will see this as nothing more than an opportunity to attempt yet another infiltration operation to capture still more Israelis with the intent of emptying Israeli jails of the terrorists that it has previously captured. In this instance, the talk is that Regev and Goldwasser would be released in exchange for the traitor Samir Kuntar.

Then, there's the ongoing talk about Gilad Shalit. While Hamas says that ceasefire talks and the talks about Gilad Shalit are separate, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that they are clearly connected. Shalit will not be released unless Israel releases Hamas terrorists from its jails.

None of this is really news, and yet the Israeli media is dutifully reporting what Hamas and Hizbullah are saying.

All of this is taking place even as the rockets continue slamming into Israel.

One man was lightly-to-moderately wounded after an upgraded Qassam rocket landed in the Old Muslim Cemetery near Ashkelon’s city market on Monday. The wounded man evacuated himself independently to the Barzilai Hostpial for treatment. MDA paramedics treated several people at the scene for shock.

Other Israeli communities came under fire as well. The most dovish of Israeli politicians, Yossi Beilin, who helped orchestrate the Oslo Accords, continues pushing a ceasefire, despite the fact that it would put Israeli security on the backburner. He thinks that not engaging in a ceasefire would give Hamas the advantage.

That's a wholly misguided position given the facts on the ground. Hamas took advantage of a ceasefire in 2007 when it took over Gaza after Israel's unilateral disengagement in 2005. They took over Gaza and have used it ever since to fire thousands of rockets at Israel. Any ceasefire will only enable Hamas to regroup and rearm for the next round as they have no interest in peace at all.

The one tact that has not even been attempted is to defeat Hamas and destroy it once and for all. Half measures have enabled the group to limp along and regroup over time, claiming victory for surviving. Israel's leadership continues to be paralyzed into inaction and half measures.

UPDATE:
The upheaval in the Israeli Knesset is reaching the level of absurdity. It's taking the Arab members of the Knesset to save Olmert from being tossed on the ash heap of history. They know that a no confidence vote would mean the ascendancy of Likud, and they'd lose their sway over the premiership.

And the Arab MKs are sounding a bit like Democrats who were busy protecting the likes of William "Cold Cash" Jefferson:

"The fact that the prime minister is under investigation shouldn't necessarily mean he must resign," MK Talab El-Sana (United Arab List – Ta'al) told Ynet on Monday.