The Israeli army is an open and transparent army. We are conscripted by law but we also serve knowing there is no one else to do so. We serve and risk our lives and in return expect not to be left behind in battle. It’s as simple as that. Everyday Gilad was still behind bars this covenant was getting weaker. A terrible blow would have been served to Israeli society if Shalit’s fate would have been similar to Ron Arad. Gilat Shalit is my brother, he is my son. I want him home.
Congrats Sgt. Gilad. Welcome home.
Now pick up your rifle and fight your own wars instead of having the Americans do the deed for you.
Yea, well,
If just one of those 1000 released places a single bomb on an Israeli bus or in a crowded restaurant, it won’t seem like such a good deal.
The logic and math doesn’t add up.
The Muslims kmow one Israeli is worth 500 Muslims. They have that right.
I respect the decision made here by the Israeli government.
Too bad the Arab terrorists are already crying that they need another Shalit as a bargaining chip though.
One Israeli soldier is worth far more that 1000 Palestinian prisoners.
Indiana Homez, you took the words right off my tongue. Agreed!
Well, the market has spoken. One Israeli is worth a thousand palestinians. Even Hamas appears to agree.
Israel should bombard Gaza and the West Bank with propaganda making use of this fact. “Hamas and the PA agree: it takes a thousand of you pigs to equal one Israeli citizen. Do you really want to be governed by groups that value your life so cheaply?”
I made a comment on facebook, and spell check corrected my spelling of “hamas” to “ham ass”. I left it like that.
I forsee a groundswell of new hostages. Why soldiers when children will do? A thoroughly silly move.
I think the next time this happens, resolute saturation bombing of every square foot of terrorist land should occur. They would steal a corpse if they could.
I think this is a win, win, win! for Israel.
They get their guy back, win.
They don’t have to pay to feed and house those 1000 Palestinian terrorist @ssholes anymore, big win.
When said Palestinian @ssholes inevitably attack Israel again, the Israelis get another crack at killing them. Win!
Its all good.
The 1000 released for him will make good target practice in the months to come.
In a way this makes sense if only from a moral point of view.
Lots of drones yet.
According to an essay I read today, this outrage is a direct result of PR (proportional representation). Politically, Netanyahu was in a bind. Netanyahu is on record for very strongly condemning these suicidal exchanges for all the blatantly obvious reasons.
AND the Israeli left is possibly even nuttier than the US/Euro left and just as pervasive.
I thought it was 1000 men and 27 women for one Jew.
Somewhere, someone will draw a graphic of the blindfolded lady holding the scales of justice weighing the value of the evidence.
On one side of the scale 1,000 Islamist terrorists on the other side of the scale stands one Israeli, and the scale is balanced.
Israel wins a moral victory that echos around the globe and above. It replenishes her will.
Hopefully, those who seek wisdom the world over will reflect on this parable.
Phantom, agreed. Hopefully the next time the Israeli aim is better.
Indiana (far away from) Homez >
The problem isn’t net worth, its 1000 highly potential Muslim bombs planters now released and the firing of Katyusha rockets at tens of thousands of civilian Israelis.
Myself I would have preferred to execute each of the 1000 prisoners every hour, after that begin launching a 1000 rocket’s into the Palestinian territories for every day the soldier wasn’t returned.
Something would give eventually.
Somehow I doubt that sentimental drivel in the post will assuage future victims of the now free terrorists, as well as those taken hostage by terrorists who now see it as a winning move.
In Robert Heinlein’s novel Starship Trooper’s the narrator is in a class on Morals and Ethics and the question posed is ‘Should we go to war when a thousand citizens are held hostage, or a hundred, or ten, or even one citizen? We know that hundreds if not thousands of our men will die to rescue the one.’
The answer is yes because ‘a man is not a potato’ ie that one person’s life is of inestimable value and if we do not risk ourselves to free him we have placed no value on his life and hence our own.
I think the ratio of 1000 to 1 is wrong. One civilized human being is worth 10s of thousands of genocidal mohammedans. I hope and presume that the Israelis have recorded voiceprints of all the murderous swine so they can monitor cell phone networks and lock in hellfire missiles in the future.
Isreal did the right thing here. This shows how much value each side puts on their people. Yes, they did release 1000 potential terrorists, but practically, so what? Its not like there isn’t another 2 billion to take their place. The potential, and very real down side is that the islamonuts will try to take more hostages. The solution to that is overwelming retaliation if that happens.
Indiana (far away from) Homez says: “One Israeli soldier is worth far more that 1000 Palestinian prisoners.”
It still galls me but I agree.
They will have to be vigilent now.
I’m sure they have thought this through and will know what to do.
The irony is too delicious. The islamists say that the Jews are sons of pigs and monkeys, yet each Jew is worth 1000 islamists. What value does that put on an individual islamist, They are worth 1/1000th of a pig. Talk about self esteem issues. Maybe that’s what has been eating them all these years.
mike
This is a tough one. I respect and admire their covenant to never leave a soldier behind.
But they should also respect a policy of never negotiating with terrorists, or releasing terrorists in response to a hostage taking. That just guarantees further hostage taking whenever you have any imprisoned terrorists.
Unfortunately, those two rules conflict and one of them has to give.
Where’s that “disproportionate” crowd now??
Fear the whirlwind.
One Israeli is worth 1,027 Palestinians. One group appreciates the value of a human being while the other takes its place as the Islamic world’s sandbags.
trollbertarian said: “Somehow I doubt that sentimental drivel in the post will assuage future victims of the now free terrorists…”
Yeah, because if they hadn’t let those terrorists free, nobody would ever attack Israel right?
I also see it as a bad move. It guarantees efforts to capture more Israelie soldiers and the Palestinians sees it as a decisive victory. I agree with Knight99. Kill a Palestinion every hour until until Gilad is released and if that fails attack with no mercy. Of course that would not be politically correct but wars are never won on political correctness.
I have a feeling that in the not too distant future there will be an increase in violence with so many murderers set free at once.
Perhaps, because I look beyond the obvious, this exchange is good policy.
1) The design of the IDF merkova tank enphasises crew protection…an IDF halmark…this carrys on that policy because it places an incentive for the arabs to take prisoners rather than just casually slaughter them….the only incentive arabs recognize is negotiable assets…gold, horses, hostages/ransom etc…it’s traditional and cultural…human life other wise has little or no value for the Arabs.
2) the Arabs pragmatically accept the 1000/1 ratio because that has been the rate of exchange for over 60 years…..compare the casualty rates…
Isrealis must inflict such losses just to survive.
The Arabs create/maintain their own psychological disadvantage…..and this explains the vast number of arab prisoners that the Isrealis capture.
It’s easier to take prisoners than the alternative….desperate die-hards are a problem.
The result of Arab beligerants readily surrendering and Isreali’s being safely taken prisoner amounts to a cultural shift.
Active IDF: 187,000
Reserve IDF: 565,000
Total IDF: 752,000
Thus according to the new metrics of 1000 to 1, anyone considering attacking Israel should have to field an army numbering roughly 7.5 million.
But then David slew Goliath, so this shouldn’t be a problem…
Cheers
Hans Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
The idea that Arab terrorists consider an Israeli life to be worth 1,000+ muslims is ridiculous. Value is subjective, not inherent. When kidnappers take the child of a billionaire, it’s not because they see any inherent value in the child; it’s because they know that the billionaire values that child, and will give them money in exchange.
The Heinlein comparison is interesting, but rather misses the point. If we’re debating whether to go to war, it’s a valid argument; when we’re discussing releasing prisoners or paying large sums to kidnappers, it’s completely inapplicable. I would argue that paying a ransom itself violates the spirit of that argument, in that it places a price on a life.
In general, this move is a mistake, for the simple reason that paying a ransom is always a mistake. When kidnappers know with 100% certainty that they cannot use a hostage as a bargaining chip, they will stop taking hostages. The more often we cave to their demands, the more incentive we give them to take hostages in the future. The fact that the release of these 1,000 prisoners further endangers innocent lives only compounds the problem.
Well, now that the exchange rate has been recognized we can begin to make deals.
here’s the first deal.
Every time an Israeli citizen is murdered in a terrorist attack, the Israeli’s can legally take out 1,027 Palestinians.