Deal Reportedly Reached For Kidnapped Soldier Gilad Shalit's Release

And it's an absolutely horrible one if the reported details are correct

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israel and Hamas have arrived at deal that would free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit,who has been in captivity for five years under unknown conditions without so much as even a Red Cross visit.

In exchange, Hamas is reportedly getting the release of over 1,000 terrorists, many of them serving life sentences (Israel unfortunately has no capital punishment) after being convicted in Israeli courts of murdering and maiming numerous Israeli civilians. I can only imagine how the families of the victims will feel seeing these sneering killers walk free.

Among those reportedly on the list are Ahlam Tamimi, who planned the Sbarro Pizza suicide bombing and transported the terrorist bomber to the site and Marwan Barghouti, serving five life terms for planning terrorist operations against Israeli civilians during the Second Intifada that resulted in the murder of a number of civilians.I shudder to think of whom else Hamas has succeeded in getting released, and how many innocent people may die because of it:

The Izaddin al-Kassam brigades presented the prisoner-exchange agreement with Israel for kidnapped soldier Gilad Schalit as a "historic victory," claiming that Israel has accepted all the demands of the captors.

Abu Obaida, spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas, Izaddin al-Kassam, said that the agreement includes prisoners from east Jerusalem, Israeli Arabs and all females and minors. He also pointed out that two-thirds of the prisoners who would be released in return for Gilad Schalit are serving lengthy terms in prison.

"This is an historic deal," he boasted.

"Hamas will remain faithful to the cause of the prisoners and will continue to work toward securing the release of all of them."

Translation...Hamas has seen that this is a great tactic that works and will try for more of the same.

The deal reportedly calls for the release of 450 terrorist killers within a week, with the rest being freed in two months. One can only imagine what kind of condition Gilad Shalit is in, and I only hope the Israeli government took pains to make sure they're getting a live body back instead of a corpse.

Netanyahu spoke about the difficulty in balancing bringing back a kidnapped soldier and maintaining the security of the citizens of Israel.

"The deal I am bringing to the Government expresses the right balance between all of these considerations. I do not wish to hide the truth from you – it is a very difficult decision. I feel for the families of victims of terror, I appreciate their suffering and distress, I am one of them. But leadership must be examined at moments such as this, being able to make difficult, but right, decisions," Netanyahu said.

"I believe that we have reached the best deal we could have at this time, when storms are sweeping the Middle East. I do not know if in the near future we would have been able to reach a better deal or any deal at all. It is very possible that this window of opportunity, that opened because of the circumstances, would close indefinitely and we would never have been able to bring Gilad home at all."

Netanyahu is recognizing the reality that Egypt's now open and growing hostility would likely preclude a deal of any kind in the future.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said he would oppose the deal and vote against it, but was not insisting that his party do so.

This episode says a great deal about the Israelis and the Palestinians, and their attitude towards the sanctity of life.

On the one hand, we have people who celebrate brutal murderers and make heroes out of them for themselves and their children. They were willing to kidnap someone and keep him in inhumane conditions like no other civilized nation would in order to ransom him and free those murderers to kill again.

On the other hand, we have people who view the sanctity of life so seriously they were willing to swallow hard and free these murderers in order to rescue a kidnapped soldier.Because to the Israelis and the IDF, the idea of leaving a man behind is unbearable, especially knowing what they know about the nature of their enemies.

Israel is to be congratulated on its humanity, if not its common sense.

I sympathize deeply with Noam Shalit and the other members of the Shalit family,but I can't help but think that in the end, Israel will pay in blood for this.I pray G-d I'm wrong.

But as with all things, there is one bright spot that occurs to me.

While Gilad Shalit was being held hostage in Gaza, he remained a huge human shield for the Hamas regime.

Once he's home,if hostilities break out between Israel and Hamas that shield is no longer in place and all bets are off.

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