Dit is ware heldenmoed en de juiste 'fighting spirit', waar Israël haar oorlogen door heeft gewonnen. Hoe begrijpelijk het ook moge zijn dat Gilad Shalit smeekt om zijn vrijlating, het is strategisch gezien desastreus als Israël bereid zou zijn daar een hoge prijs voor te betalen, en maakt het alleen maar aantrekkelijker voor Hamas en Hezbollah om meer soldaten te ontvoeren.
Normaliter worden krijgsgevangenen na een oorlog en het sluiten van een vredesverdrag vrijgelaten, maar Israël en de Palestijnen (en Hezbollah) bevinden zich in een soort van permanente staat van half-oorlog, waarin Hamas wel raketten mag afschieten, en beide groeperingen pogen Israëlische soldaten te ontvoeren, maar Israël onder grote internationale druk staat 'terughoudend' te zijn. Onderdeel van deze asymetrische oorlogsvoering lijkt te zijn dat een Israëlische soldaat wel duizend Palestijnen waard is, een absurd idee. Uiteraard zullen de vrijgelaten Palestijnen daarna hun activiteiten in de 'gewapende strijd' weer oppakken, en vaak hebben zij in de gevangenis waardevolle inzichten en kontakten opgedaan.
Ratna
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Reservists: If we're captured, don't negotiate for our bodies
By Haaretz Service
"If we are captured by the enemy, we ask that the state of Israel does not release many hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for our freedom," Israel Defense Forces reserves soldiers wrote in a letter addressed to the IDF chief of staff, channel 2 reported Tuesday.
The reservists, members of a decorated infantry battalion, are slated to be the first soldiers to enter enemy territory should Israel decide to carry out a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip.
According to Channel 2, the letter will be handed to IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi only when such an operation begins.
The soldiers and officers emphasize in the letter that they are "ready to sit in an enemy prison for as long as it takes," and demand that Israel refrain from paying a high price for their freedom. The soldiers also ask that no negotiations be held over their dead bodies or parts of their dead bodies.
Earlier this month, the Lebanon-based guerilla group Hezbollah handed over to Israel the remains of several IDF soldiers, in what some viewed as efforts to advance a prisoner exchange.
Channel 2 also reported Tuesday that former United States president Jimmy Carter was launching efforts to get a letter to captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, from his parents. A letter apparently written by Shalit, who was captured by Palestinian militants in 2006, was transferred through the Carter Center to his family on Monday.
The Shalit family declined to make public the contents of the letter they received, but said that Gilad begged for his life in it and asked that Israel cooperate and take action to secure his release.
The reservists, members of a decorated infantry battalion, are slated to be the first soldiers to enter enemy territory should Israel decide to carry out a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip.
According to Channel 2, the letter will be handed to IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi only when such an operation begins.
The soldiers and officers emphasize in the letter that they are "ready to sit in an enemy prison for as long as it takes," and demand that Israel refrain from paying a high price for their freedom. The soldiers also ask that no negotiations be held over their dead bodies or parts of their dead bodies.
Earlier this month, the Lebanon-based guerilla group Hezbollah handed over to Israel the remains of several IDF soldiers, in what some viewed as efforts to advance a prisoner exchange.
Channel 2 also reported Tuesday that former United States president Jimmy Carter was launching efforts to get a letter to captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, from his parents. A letter apparently written by Shalit, who was captured by Palestinian militants in 2006, was transferred through the Carter Center to his family on Monday.
The Shalit family declined to make public the contents of the letter they received, but said that Gilad begged for his life in it and asked that Israel cooperate and take action to secure his release.
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