Hamas' Win-Win Formula

[Eupher]

by Asaf Romirowsky

After an emotional five-year campaign, kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit came home in exchange for a total of 1,027 Palestinian terrorists who had been incarcerated in Israeli jails. Those released included the architect of the 405 bus attack that claimed the lives of 16 people, Nachshon Wachsman's killers, the murderers of yeshiva student Haim Kerman, Amana Muna, -who lured 16-year-old Ophir Nahum via Internet chats to his murder in Ramallah - and many more.

Israeli MIAs have been a serious sticking point since the establishment of the modern State of Israel, as they force the Jewish state to deal directly with terror groups, thereby giving such groups more credence than they deserve. This moral dilemma pits the need to maintain a qualitative military edge against staying true to the tenets of Jewish law. Unfortunately, the two cannot co-exist.

Jewish law literally pulls rank. The notion that no soldier is to be left behind is an IDF dogma that's ingrained at all levels of the military and society. Hence, when Israeli soldiers are kidnapped by radical Islamist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, Israel is blackmailed because of its desire to bring Jewish soldiers home.

There may be those in the international arena who would question whether Israel is wise to put such a premium on one life when the exchange may endanger so many others. Yet the Israeli ethos that evolved throughout the years holds that the state should be willing to make such sacrifices for any individuals whom it expects to make the same sacrifices for the state of Israel.

Moreover, due to Israel's policy of universal enlistment a captured soldier could be anyone's son, which is the reason public pressure on the matter has been so vast.

The rest is at the link.
Middle East Forum

This is an example of how taking the moral high ground can work against you. I found it puzzling, and even foolhardy, to release over 1,000 terrorists from Israeli jails in a trade for a single Israeli soldier. Here you have the explanation and rationale for that decision.

[thundley4]

I look at it this way. Hamas has set the exchange rate at 1000 Palestinians to one Israeli.  Next time a rocket attack claims Israeli lives, Israel can retaliate and kill 1000 times more Palestinians.  

[Erasmus]

It ceases to be a moral dilemma if you just wipe out your enemy.

[Eupher]

It ceases to be a moral dilemma if you just wipe out your enemy.

Agreed, but as the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians is several thousand years old, neither party has been successful in wiping out the other.

So far.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Moral high ground isn't quite the right word, it's just a cultural imperative.  Israelis are a lot more like us than anyone around them is, but it's a huge mistake to believe they think the same way or have identical values.   

[Eupher]

Moral high ground isn't quite the right word, it's just a cultural imperative.  Israelis are a lot more like us than anyone around them is, but it's a huge mistake to believe they think the same way or have identical values.   

Meh. I liken it to the same "cultural imperative" that the U.S. Marines have -- leave nobody behind. I don't think anybody's comparing the U.S. culture to that of Israel's or even asserting identical values..

I would argue, however, that when one sticks to one's guns vis a vis leaving nobody behind, that's adopting a pretty high plateau compared to the muzzies.

And the muzzies are going to take advantage of it, to the detriment of the Israelis themselves.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Whatever.  'Morality' only comes into play when there's a choice.  For them, in this, there isn't one.

[Erasmus]

One of the mooslim clerics is now offering $100,000 for anyone who helps kidnap Israeli soldiers.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Not sure, but I think the scumdogs have had similar bounty offers in the past.