Gilad

Last week we all witnessed a piece of history. After more than five years Gilad Shalit returned home. If you are a parent you can imagine the joy that his parents felt but if you watch the videos you know it was a moment of joy and relief for the entire country. Israel is such a small country that your neighbors really do know you and your family. That feeling of “family” was felt on a national level as Shalit embraced his father on camera. While all of us share in that joy we also know the heavy price that was paid to make it happen. Over one thousand terrorist murderers were freed to ransom Gilad Shalit. That is a simple fact- don’t try to second guess the decision. I have already heard the arm-chair soldiers who feel that the trade was wrong. I don’t know the answer but I do know if it was my son there would be no price too high to gain his freedom. The trade is done so the best thing we can do is to understand what we can learn from it.
The most important lesson is not new but one that is worth repeating. For the Palestinian prisoners the “home-coming” was a chance to make one clear statement: the crowds called for more “Gilads,” a call for more kidnappings to facilitate more prisoner trades, to gain the freedom of more terrorists. While Israel made a trade that cost dearly to save one life the Palestinians negotiated a trade to take more lives. That is the moral difference between the Israelis and the Palestinians. It is a simple question: what do you value more, life or death. The Arab celebrations made it clear what they value and yet these voices of hate and terror fall on the ears of a world that chooses not to hear.
I can only hope that the world was watching TV last week. I hope that if there was ever any doubt about the intention of Hamas and the PA then these events showed the truth. While the Palestinians continue to pressure for statehood and claim that Israel will not negotiate, the truth is that reality is very different than the political rhetoric. For the Palestinians the priority remains the same- to destroy Israel one Jew at a time. More freed prisoners mean more soldiers in that war.
Let us breathe a sigh of relief for the return of Gilad Shalit. Let us hold our collective breath as one thousand terrorists can now return to murdering Israelis. This drama has shown the role that the two stars will play. Israel will continue to choose life and seek peace. The Palestinians will continue to choose murder and terror.