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ANALYSIS / IDF soldiers must at least believe they won't be abandoned
By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondents
Tags: hamas, israel news 

Tzipi Livni may have been trying to send a message to Hamas regarding Israel's unwillingness to pay the price it is demanding for Gilad Shalit. But her wording was distinctly problematic.

There is a big difference between the reality that fighting can result in casualties and the government's abandonment of a live soldier in captivity. And it is hard to overstate the importance of the latter. In a country giving its citizens fewer and fewer reasons to believe they ought to risk their lives in its defense, it is crucial that soldiers at least feel convinced that everything possible will be done to bring them home should they be taken captive.

Media outlets have increasingly been declaring that "any price" should be paid for Shalit. It is hard to know whether the public agrees. In the cabinet, Shas and Labor ministers would apparently support a deal involving "painful concessions." How Kadima ministers would vote is less clear, though it seems that at least Shaul Mofaz would vote for it. Among defense professionals, in contrast, the lines are clear. The chief of staff would support such a deal; the heads of the Mossad and Shin Bet security service would oppose it.
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As for Hamas, it is gleefully watching the growing public pressure in Israel for the government to capitulate to its demands - namely, the release of some 1,400 Palestinian prisoners, including 450 whom it has demanded by name. These include many people involved in major terror attacks, and Israel has thus far agreed to free less than half of them. But Hamas is convinced that Israel will eventually give in to the public and media pressure and free everyone on its list, regardless of how dangerous they are.

The negotiations over Shalit have also stalled for another reason: Hamas and Egypt, which has been serving as chief mediator, are openly at loggerheads. Hamas thinks Egypt is undermining its efforts to extort Israel, while Egypt is furious that Hamas derailed its plan for a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation summit in Cairo. Egypt thinks Hamas is behind a series of Muslim Brotherhood demonstrations in Cairo that it views as a challenge to the regime, while Hamas is furious at Egypt's ongoing closure of the Rafah border crossing into Gaza. None of this gives Egypt much incentive to resolve the Shalit standoff, because any deal will only strengthen Hamas.


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      1.   free shalit 04:55  |  jerry friedman 12/12/08
      2.   no 05:14  |  Aaron 12/12/08
      3.   And exactly WHAT lesson has the government 05:55  |  Mark Lincoln 12/12/08
      4.   Amos Harel is very wrong, This election will prove it 06:23  |  Judea 12/12/08
      5.   Gilad Shalit 06:27  |  Bruce 12/12/08
      6.   No hostage trading with the Palestinians 07:05  |  Fish 12/12/08
      7.   The question is... 08:01  |  Esther 12/12/08
      8.   Dying, capture and torture are just the job 08:58  |  spyguy 12/12/08
      9.   No, IDF Soldiers must KNOW they won`t be abandoned! 09:08  |  Tzfonit 12/12/08
      10.   Play the game, maybe !!! 09:40  |  MJ 12/12/08
      11.   Soldiers Must Know that Hostage Taking Won`t be Rewarded 09:43  |  Baruch Gold 12/12/08
      12.   I am an Israeli combat soldier. I don`t feel abandoned by neither 09:43  |  Eran 12/12/08
      13.   Tzfonit 10:11  |  S 12/12/08
      14.   "fewer and fewer reasons to risk their lives on its behalf" 10:19  |  harzion 12/12/08
      15.   soldiers in combat fight for their buddies 10:26  |  harzion 12/12/08
      16.   esther takes an easy shot at livni 10:32  |  yirmi 12/12/08
      17.   Eran 10:43  |  Tzfonit 12/12/08
      18.   To Eran, I don`t feel abandoned either. 10:51  |  Micha Golani Brigade 12/12/08
      19.   S #7 11:13  |  Esther 12/12/08
      20.   S the soldiers know that there are limits 11:16  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 12/12/08
      21.   Spyguy, Hezballah sugar coats war, not us. 11:17  |  Tzfonit 12/12/08
      22.   Shali demonstrations... 12:19  |  Esther 12/12/08
      23.   For dead soldiers deals, but not for live ones? 14:44  |  Mirqa 12/12/08
      24.   The problem is that Hamas fighters believe THEY will be freed 15:28  |  McQueen 12/12/08
      25.   Mirqa - I find it disturbing 15:42  |  Mark Lincoln 12/12/08
      26.   Margie #16 Your response is apropos of what? My post? 16:11  |  S 12/12/08
      27.   Don`t exchange me 16:37  |  Maxim 12/12/08
      28.   S (with Haaretz`s permission) 17:06  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 12/12/08
      29.   #6 Bringing Israeli soldiers home. 17:38  |  John Allen 12/12/08
      30.   As long as the 1%ers and leftists are in government 02:58  |  Arie 13/12/08
      31.   Arie, why tell us? 04:08  |  BBSNews 13/12/08
      32.   bbs:wake up and follow reality Part 1 05:29  |  Arie 13/12/08
      33.   Barak = political dwarf 05:59  |  Fontenelle 13/12/08
      34.   bbs news "the army has become fat and lazy" 10:26  |  sittingbull 13/12/08
      35.   bbs news 78% versus 22% 10:27  |  geronimo 13/12/08
      36.   bbs:wake up and follow reality Part3 17:10  |  Arie 13/12/08
      37.   Gilad - Shalit The Ethical Dilemma 22:15  |  Alison Avigayil Rame 13/12/08
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