It is a cruel thing to criticize parents for running a media campaign for the release of their son from captivity. Cruel and unforgivable. However, listening to the voice of responsibility, to the voice of authority, one cannot ignore the fact that most likely, this very campaign delayed Gilad Shalit’s release by weeks, months, possibly years. The Israeli intelligence community suggests that Hamas came to Cairo with one agenda: conclude the Gilad Shalit saga. They had a proposed list of prisoners they wanted Israel to release, but as things are in the Middle East, it was the basis of the negotiation process. In our area, it’s unheard of that one gets everything they wanted. There’s a process of compromising, of flexing, of accepting and rejecting, of screaming and yelling, of pretending, walking out, crawling back in. When both sides are ready to make decisions, when no red line has been crossed, hands are shaken, and surprisingly, the deal is carried out. Even bitter enemies, once an agreement is signed, respect it and execute it to the letter. In our neighborhood, the Middle East, nobody can afford to be disrespectful.
According to intelligence sources, the Hamas was given a generous proposal. Possibly much better than it expected. They came to Cairo ready to deal, ready to conclude. But the media frenzy in Israel made them retract. They knew they can get more. A lot more. The strategy changed from ready to deal, to ready to squeeze, ready to capitalize, ready to exploit. But Hamas intelligence is not half as good as the Israeli one. They failed to understand that Israel is a state. It’s a democracy. Maybe not the best of all democracies, maybe not the best of states. But there is the concept of responsibility, a process of decision making. They failed to understand that red lines do after all exist.
With all the pain, the sorrow, the solidarity, the State of Israel decided that there are indeed other factors, and other arguments in addition to bringing back a war prisoner. A government, a responsible one, must consider the new balance of power in the Middle East after 450 murderers are released. How many new bodies will be attributed to the newly released terrorists? How many Israelis will be kidnapped for negotiating the release of more? Will another war break out? All these are serious questions, which must be considered.
Again, with all the pain, I admit that I cannot possibly predict my own behavior under similar circumstances. Having said that I strongly feel, that the country that sent someone to war, should be the one to release him out of captivity. Not the parents and friends, not the news media. Running the Gilad Shalit campaign may have stricken a chord back home, with people who support the family anyway. But it wreaked havoc outside of Israel, and it may have delayed the release of Gilad.
Indeed, this is speculation, it’s a thought, and it’s the assessment of the Israeli intelligence. It’s not a fact. But I feel sorry, so sorry for the family for having to live with the idea that their own action may have caused their own goal to become more distant than it was before the campaign.
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