Mistake

 

When I was in high school, one of my English teachers criticized an essay I wrote. I had tipped my hand. I had started with my judgment. It would have been stronger, he offered, if I had marshaled my arguments in such a way that the reader would have reached my conclusion before I did. Based on what I had written, the decision would have been inevitable. My teacher had offered excellent advice and I've tried to follow it. But not in this case.

I am convinced that the agreement by Israel to release more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners in order to gain the freedom of Gilad Shalit is a mistake. It is not a conclusion that I have reached easily, but I cannot see how any other determination can be sustained.

While it is one of our most important obligations to ransom those imprisoned, halakhah places limits on the price to be paid for a prisoner – a price which is somehow proportional to his value. Clearly that is hard to calculate, but there is no doubt that the price being paid in this instance exceeds any limits that might be imagined. It is far too high both in its actuality and in its potential.

I am not unmindful of Shalit's suffering nor of the pain and anguish of his family and friends. I am not unsympathetic. But I also sympathize with the families of those murdered by some of the prisoners about to be let go. And it is hard to avoid the likelihood that they will kill again. That is what has happened in the past with such trades, and it is reasonable to assume it will happen again. We must learn from history.

Neither am I unmindful of the arguments favoring release – which, among others, deal with humanity and national responsibility, military morale, and the feelings of families whose children are now, or in the future will be, in the military. It is a matter of national pride that Israel was able to negotiate for the return of a soldier who was stolen by the Palestinians and denied contact with his family or even with the Red Cross. Gilad Shalit will be returned to his family, and Israel will feel some relief. That family, and those in the military and their families, will be reassured that they won't be forgotten. It will be clear to them that no effort will be spared to gain their release if they are captured. It is argued that this knowledge will make them better and more courageous fighters. And it is a fair argument. That confidence will surely embolden them. Gilad Shalit will be home, ransomed by his country.

But the damage has already been done. Gilad Shalit cannot have spent five years in the hands of terrorists without suffering severe psychological damage. That, of course, is not a reason to abandon him, but the length of his imprisonment, its likely effects, and the fact that the government only took the decision when they decided they couldn't do better, weaken any argument that this represents a big gain for military morale. And if that argument has any merit, it is a thousand times more powerful as a boost for Palestinian fighters and their families. It must be very reassuring to them to know that they can kill and, if they do not die in the process, they stand a strong chance of being released. An Israeli prisoner may be reunited with his family, but a thousand Palestinians may be given the opportunity to kill again.

And its hard not to feel the resentment of those who have lost family members to terrorists, having only the imprisonment of the murderers as “compensation.” With the release of those responsible, they have nothing. It is understandable if they don't share the national pride. And, if those released do kill again, the anger of the families of their victims will also be understandable. The argument that present situations must be dealt with at present while future problems can be addressed when they occur has some merit, but it is hard to make that argument five years after the fact. All that is achieved now, apart from Shalit's release, is the “victory” of the Palestinians and the disappearance of an annoyance to those who support the Palestinians. Now all virtue will again be theirs, and all evil will be attributable to the government of Israel.

I'm glad Gilad Shalit will be free. But I think the price was too high. We have not learned from history. I can only pray that we will not repeat it.