Israel must be crazy
Reader comment on item: Hezbollah's Victory, Israel's Decline

Submitted by steve beinart (United States), Feb 3, 2004 at 23:01

I declare that the Israelis must be insane to swap one kidnapped businessman and the bodies of three kidnapped IDF soldiers for hundreds and hundreds of imprisoned terrorists.

Obviously this will cause more kidnappings. Obviously some of the hundreds of released terrorists will committ more murders.

It never pays to give bullies what they ask for. They are never grateful. Consider this: the IDF is the most humane army in all history. Palestinian bombers kill Israeli teenagers and what does the IDF do? Blows up a building. Unoccupied building. Any other army in history would wipe out an enemy town. But the IDF is too humane. And what does it get them from the Arabs? Gratitude? Respect? No, just more murders.

Another point that I believe has been ignored by everyone including Daniel Pipes. The three kidnapped IDF soldiers? I believe they were the ones kidnapped three years ago on the Lebanon border by Hezbollah disguised as UN peacekeepers! And somehow the UN had video of the kidnapping, but kept it secret. When Israel discovered this, they demanded the tape. The stinking UN would not hand over the tape unless the blurred out faces and license plates of the Hezbollah. Apparently the UN had to be "fair" to the kidnappers.

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