Gilad Shalit heads home under medical supervision after reunion with his family

no, that's the Barak Brigade shoulder badge. His old Army unit.

They already do...in Gaza.

don't sound so funny now.

Everyone says he looks well but he looks like a concentration camp survivor so ill and malnourished not many people say how bad he looks.

Gilad was always very skinny. He told us he was treated well. What's going on with you Schmuck?

He wish for peace between Israelis and Palestineans, he has not urged for more war an hate. Listen to Gilad, i think people like him might be the future for Israel/Palsetine, not the haters.

That will be a true, joyous event, right Harzion ?

Gilads symphony of hope and freedom has finally been written . Welcome Home Gilad

the worst are in gaza and turkey and syria.the rest the shin bet will keep a close eye.most are out of israeli jurisdiction.

He stands firm, however the neighbours are all turning against Israel. If no one shifts its policies isolation (worldwide, not just regional) can do final harm to Israel. Bibi's standing is right, firm and conscious.

the whole uniform thing highlights the truth: Gilat was a POW... Hamas should have given him access to the Red Cross and Israel should realise that his return should have not been achieved at this price. Fools. All dirty politics. Bibi gets his way to escape the civil protests while hamas gets his way to mute Abbas. And so the conflict continues

His actions & behaviour were in accordance with the same grace and impeccable self-conduct that his parents portrayed during the almost 5.5 years of his captivity. Inspiring people. G-d bless them & keep them safe, and Am Israel Chai!

agree!

Obviously some of this has rubbed off on Shalit. Perhaps Netanyahu can undergo the same treatment. better yet, Lieberman!

As the leader of Israel, he has to appear to be strong and in control. The interview's for a) the Palestinians to see, b) the Arab world to see, c) Israelis to see, in that order.

Israelis haven't learned anything. Palestinians have learned that kidnapping soldiers gets results (as opposed to killing terrorists and collateral damage.)

ex-prisoners were being returned to Gaza Palestinians were in the streets singing songs extolling the killing of Jews and Israelis. A celebration of evil minds.

Today's moral relativism is so sickening. Gilad didn't kill anyone and he certainly didn't detonate a pizza parlor or bus filled with children. He is a part of the Israel DEFENSE Force that has been proven necessary time and time again by the blanket Arab refusal to accept any Jewish presence in this region.

sympathize with what?

A power who was kidnapped, denied visits by the red Cross, contact with anyone outside of his oppressors, in flagrant violation of every statute governing the treatment of captured enemy soldiers, and only released when Hamas decided that he was worth 1,000 rather than 1,500 Palestinians. Do you think Hamas took him to meet Palestinian families? Do you think he was given the opportunity to see daily life in Gaza? Do you think he was given an education on Palestinian history. His encounter was with an institution of terror. Not the Palestinian people.

What would you have learned from the violent abduction from your side of an internationally recognised border by a group who claims to be an ‘elected government’ which has in its mandate to destroy Israel and has a militant wing which carries out attacks against both civilians and soldiers, thus undermining any political or moral authority they might claim to have, and imprisonment for 5 years, kept alive only so that he could be used as a playing card for Hamas, so that they could negotiate the release of people who have the blood of hundreds on their hand, which has been proven through the judicial process which, funnily enough, doesn’t tend to exist in Gaza. I notice Gilad did not obtain a PhD though Open University or have repeated contact with his family throughout his imprisonment, unlike the aforementioned Palestinian prisoners, many of whom responsible to a significant degree for attacks which killed dozens of civilians. It is ridiculous to imply that he should have ‘learned’ something in this past five years of hell that he has endured. What should he have learned exactly? You imply that he perhaps should have learned to sympathise with the Palestinians. Sympathy for what? Palestinian claims for statehood and independence, I presume? How on earth would being locked up for five years mean that he is any more or less likely to sympathise with these claims? Which, by the way, were not the aim of Hamas in kidnapping and imprisoning him, and have nothing to do with his situation. Do not equate Hamas with these objectives – because they do not want this. If Palestinian statehood were achieved, and inclusive of Gaza, then Hamas might actually need to be accountable and would be under some obligation to act as a democratic and representative government, which they are not, and not as a prominent militant group, which they are. And don’t bring up their democratic election way back when...because i know of no ‘government’ which holds elections with as much frequency (or lack thereof, to be more specific) than Hamas.

and kept you captive for five years?

How do you know that he didn't kill anyone? He was part of a tank crew on the Gaza border. Be glad that he has returned home in one piece.

I think that depends on how he was treated...

That's why I asked my question. Maybe he no longer sees them as "brutes", but as human beings.

So far he has been quoted as saying that he is happy to be released and happy that Pal prisoners have been released. That he hopes this negotiated deal will lead to a negotiated peace deal with the Palestinians.

wearing a uniform makes no difference

errrrr a subjugated people perhaps?

I guess the citizens of Israel that had their family members and loved ones murdered by many of these men don't have feelings.....I am sure the relatives of Israeli party goers murdered at Tel-Aviv night clubs are all brainwashed settlers and Russian Jews.....Quite a pathetic argument you make.

Israeli security forces estimate that 60 percent of freed terrorists return to terror. 178 Israelis have been killed since 2000 by freed terrorists. Your name-calling changes nothing and convinces no one.

It is not assured that any of the prisoners will kill any Israelis, G-d forbid. But Gilad Schalit would have been killed if the exchange was not made. That is definite. Having Gilad murdered would not have brought back those lost to terror.

its not that we don't want him back and we are all glade that he is back but what will you say to the next mother who looses a child to someone who was in jail. we know what is going to happen because its the same thing that has happened every time we have released terrorists for hostages. all we have done is swapped his life for several others.

Statistics/estimates from the Israeli security forces for propaganda purposes are as reliable as those supplied by Hamas (i.e. not remotely).

this is the best way to take the terrorists' motives away

How many Palestinians have beeen klilled by the most moral army in the world during the same period?? Minimum at the rate of 100!! It seems that jewish life is more worth than palestinian lives. Shame and disgust!!

Who mentioned Russians? I did not know Uzi Landau and Danny Ayalon and other leading members of that "party" were Russian. And would sentencing Shalit to death bring back the loved ones? Why should another Jew be killed? There is no guarantee that any of those released will kill. But Shalit WOULD have been killed for sure.

If Israel ends its occupation of Palestinian lands, there will be no need for the freed prisoners to go back to fighting. When will Israelis start thinking about a future full of stability and peace, and stop listening to those among them who would do whatever they can to prove that the Palestinians cannot be trusted.