Impossible choices

Andrew Silow-Carroll
NJJN Editor-in-Chief

Two weeks after the abduction of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, Israel continues to face a burden of seemingly impossible choices.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has deployed the military with decisiveness and restraint, and he made clear that Israel retains the right to defend its people and retrieve its missing soldiers.

At the same time, Israel is thought to be involved in a series of back-channel discussions with the Palestinians, weighing some sort of prisoner exchange that would set Shalit free without appearing to crumble in the face of terrorist threats.
To some activists, any negotiation or the possibility of a prisoner swap is unacceptable. They point to the blood that stains the hands of some of the Palestinians in Israeli jails, to the precedent such an exchange would set, to the impact it would have on the continuing efforts to isolate the Hamas leadership.

Their concern is real and based on rock-solid principles, but Israel has always shown an ability and willingness to match their response to the situation — regarding “principles” as just another word for inflexibility. Its leaders remember when they refused to free imprisoned Palestinians and as a result may have squandered a chance to prop up a relative moderate like President Mahmoud Abbas. Or they are haunted by thoughts of missing Air Force navigator Ron Arad, who some experts believe could have been brought home had Israel met his captors’ price. When Israel agreed to release hundreds of prisoners in return for a shady businessman named Elhanan Tanenboim in 2004, those involved with negotiations over Arad seethed with thoughts of what could have been.

Israel sits at a juncture between two fundamental principles: Don’t give in to the ransom demands of kidnappers, and leave no soldier behind. Ignore the first principle, and you encourage future abductions. Ignore the second, and you must look into the eyes of grieving families.

American Jews can offer little to this debate other than their support, no matter what decisions Israel’s leaders make. They may have opinions, but the decision belongs to the Israelis. Second-guessing the government, or attacking their actions, only hands the abductors another victory.