Israel has made a foolish deal with Hezbollah. Israel has agreed to free Samir Kantar, a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist, along with four other prisoners from the PFLP and bodies of Hezbollah fighters. Kantar is serving a 542-year sentence for the brutal murder of two men and a four-year-old girl in a 1979 raid on northern Israel. In return, Hezbollah will release the remains of two Isaeli soldiers who died after their July 2006 capture by the Shiite militia during the cross-border raid which ignited the 34-day war in Lebanon.
Because Israel (pop. 7.3 million, of which only 5.5 million are Jews) is such a tiny nation, the death of a single Israeli soldier is seen like a death in the family, and when one of its soldiers is captured, it feels like a family member has been kidnapped. Thus, Israel has made some lopsided swaps to recover its fallen heros and to obtain the return of captive soldiers.
I can understand the obsession with burying its soldiers in Israeli soil and in obtaining the release of soldiers being held hostage by Hezbollah and Hamas. After all, the United States (pop. 301 million) is still trying to recover the missing bodies of American soldiers killed long ago in the Korean and Vietnam wars.
Israel has a long history of prisoner swaps. In 2004, Israel and Hezbollah exchanged an Israeli civilian and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers for 436 Arab prisoners and the bodies of 59 Lebanese fighters. In 1996, Israel freed 65 prisoners for the bodies of two soldiers. In 1991, Israel traded 51 prisoners for proof that one of its soldiers held in Lebanon was dead.
The most lopsided swaps ocurred in 1983 and 1985. In 1985, three Israeli soldiers captured in Lebanon in 1982 were traded for 1,150 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners. In 1983, Israel swapped 4,600 Palestinian and Lebanese captives for six Israeli soldiers abducted in 1982 from their forward post in Lebanon. Most of the Arab prisoners in the 1983 swap had been rounded up during Israel's invasion of Lebanon, while an additional 100 were freed from Israeli jails, where they were serving long sentences for terrorism.
Israel's prisoner swaps have not brought about a hoped for peace. The lopsided swaps have only led to more deaths and abductions of Israeli soldiers and civilians. In fact, they only serve to embolden Israel's enemies.
Hamas, which has demanded the exchange of 450 prisoners for the return of an Israeli soldier it abducted two years ago, has now indicated it will increase its demands in view of the fact that the captive soldier is still alive. The Hamas leadership has reasoned that since Israel has paid a hefty price for the return of dead soldiers, they should be willing to pay a higher price for the return of a live one.
The Israelis would have been far better served had they just bitten the bullet by not agreeing to this latest swap. Israel will rue the day it swapped Samir Kantar, the terrorist, and four other prisoners for the bodies of two fallen heros.
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