Israel's feeble behavior is creating a situation in which every abducted person becomes a strategic asset in the hands of the enemy. The exorbitant and wanton prices paid time after time, as in the case of Elhanan Tennenbaum, are what endowed Hezbollah and Hamas with an extent of power they would never have obtained by other means. This clear message only partially guided the senior forum headed by the prime minister and the defense minister, which two days ago discussed freeing hundreds of terrorists, including murderers, in return for the release of Gilad Shalit. Hamas made exaggerated demands, an announcement was issued, but the negotiations will continue.

All the precedents prove that even after Hamas removes a demand from its list, such as the release of Israeli Arabs, the list will still be very similar to the original one submitted. Even Eitan Haber, the right-hand man of Yitzhak Rabin, who was the architect of the Jibril deal (in which 1,115 terrorists were released, some of whom again murdered Israelis and brought about the intifada), said that this time, too, we are liable to bring ruin, destruction and death upon ourselves.

MK Zahava Gal-On feels the needs of the living take precedence. Indeed they do. But in order to realize this lofty imperative the government must reject her recommendations and must not give in to Hamas. After all, some of the terrorists who will be released will return to planning and carrying out terrorist acts. If this proven logic had guided Gal-On's historical counterparts, the past leaders of the state would not have decided on the wholesale release of terrorists and the motivation for the kidnapping of Shalit and the soldiers in Lebanon would not have been created.

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In a speech intended to prepare the public to make far-reaching concessions, Defense Minister Amir Peretz said the government's decisions will prove to every soldier that if he is taken prisoner, the state "will do everything to bring him home." Past experience shows that the release of hundreds of terrorists in exchange for a kidnapped soldier in Gaza will only intensify, and certainly won't reduce, attacks on other soldiers, and will encourage more kidnappings. This is the most effective way, Israel has taught Hamas and Hezbollah, to make the Jewish State go down on its knees.

In the 13th century, the Maharam of Rotenburg, the leading Ashkenazi sage of the time, was kidnapped and a huge ransom was demanded for his release. The ransom was of course collected, but the Maharam forbade it to be paid. But what about the commandment of freeing captives, the Jewish community leaders asked. "Captives are not freed if it will lead to further danger," the Maharam ruled. And what is this "further danger"? The danger is that the payment of the exorbitant ransom will lead to more kidnappings. And this was the premise on which Jewish communities acted - from then until the Jibril deal, at a time when Israel had a large and grand army.

Neither compassion for Shalit and his family nor a consideration for public opinion, which was manipulated to project a position of weakness, should influence the decision-makers. They must adopt the ghetto strategy, which is the complete opposite of the current governmental strategy, whereby a single kidnapping victim becomes a strategic asset in the hands of the enemy. And if this means that Hamas will hold Shalit captive for another year or even longer, despite all the anguish entailed and the compassion for him and his family, this is a necessary price to pay to prevent future kidnappings.

The fate of those who may be affected in the future takes precedence over the fate of an individual. Although he is indeed suffering, his life is assured - provided of course that the Jews remember that they have, unlike the situation in the 13th century, a state and a mighty army.

We must make it clear to the kidnappers and their dispatchers that if they harm Shalit, perish the thought, the offending hands will be cut off, then nothing bad will happen to him. Israel has the means to make the kidnappers and their organization, Hamas, sense that this will indeed come about. This is another way of stopping the cycle of kidnappings and bringing an end to the illogical prices paid in exchange for releasing kidnapping victims.