Yossi Melman / Israelis know the price of bringing Shalit back

Yes , but will our leaders pay the price when this proves to be a big mistake?

Israel agreed to numbers it never agreed to the prisoners nominated by Hamas. Hence there was no agreement to" renege" on was there.

It is clear that the right would much rather have a dead 'hero' than a live Gilad Shalit.

I hope the kid is redeemed. I hope his father embraces him again. At some point Israel will have to come to grips with what it ACTUALLY values. I saw Americans held captive in Lebanon as Ronald Reagan thumped his chest and vowed he would never deal with 'terrorists' and then I saw him trade weapons for hostages. Only to see more hostages taken. . . There was an in effect a covenant between Israel and it's soldiers that they would be saved, when Gilad Shalit was taken hostage. And thus he should be redeemed. Israel must decide - and make all it's citizens understand - that either they will be saved if possible, or abandoned if necessary. It cannot be both. No matter how much politicians would like to pretend that it could be. Redeeming Gilad Shalit will ensure others are taken hostage. Not redeeming him would be a betrayal of an implied contract. A bad situation made much worse by the political cowardice of Israeli politicians.

Perhaps Haaretz may refresh my memory with the headline of a few days after Gilad Shalit was made a prisoner. Was the price not the release of 250 women and children held by Israel? Did not Olmert launch 'Summer Rains' with the intent to free Shalit and punish Gaza? Did not the total failure of Summer Rains lead to the current stand off? The subsequent seizure of two hostages, or their bodies, by Hisbollah revealed that there was a systematic failure by the IDF to deal with the threat of abduction. Fortunately that weakness, the lapse in training and oversight that made two abductions in a few weeks to succeed have been repaired. Unlike Regev and Goldwasser, Shalit still lives. And unlike them, Israel balks at the post-Summer Rains, post-Cast Lead price. It would be best for Israel to devise a national policy. Either captives will be redeemed, or every Israel must understand that to become a captive is a death sentence. And then that policy must be adhered to by ALL Israelis.

WE observed that child for four months. The Geneva Convention needs to be applied. They need a Red Cross mediator from Switzerland. This is no longer a political move it is a life save. The one with dignity and honor will let this child free. One question does someone in his family owe a gambling debt or the MOB anything. There is a link. We need to know to help. Rankoo-Karoon

You can't put a price on ONE.. That is why the exchange is dragging.

Wish that the Politicians sometime follow these LOGICAL Advice from Mr Melman

... he is in-the-know and his conclusions are right-on... ... the vacillations on Israel's part have been to a large extent due to changing and faltering and unstable regimes... ... no politician was ever strong enough or willing enough to prevail and implement a prisoner exchange deal for Shalit... ... now Netanyahu, by virtue of his huge coalition, has enough backing and confidence to comsummate a deal at long last... ... hope and pray that he goes through with it, despite all the unnecessary barking at his heels...

and agreed to them over a year ago, then reneged.

I agree with Mr. Melman. Israel should have concluded this deal a year ago. In addition, humiliation could have been avoided.

The Palestinian militants will always see the capture of an IDF man as being in their interest. Even if no swap is ever made, the turmoil which it causes in Israel is a victory in itself for the militants. The several years that the Shalit case has dragged on have shown Israel to be impotent and ineffective no matter how they tried to resolve it. This is the real victory for the militants. A prisoner swap is merely the icing on the cake. The best way for Israel to deal with these situations is to do it quickly, even if it means a short term victory for the militants. If Israel declined to swap for Shalit, this would have no effect on future capture attempts.

During eighties, scores of Palestinians, some of them children, were kidnapped and held by the SLA under israeli orders. Some of these people remained in SLA dungeons for years. Kidnap cultures was then learned by the fanatics on the other side and was put in practice. I hope Shalit returns home soon, I wholehartedly wish this. I also hope an end to all these tragedies in the ME whose culpables are both Hamas and israeli extremists.

why Israel always spouts loud cliches about how it "won't give in to terror" Also "won't free people with blood on their hands", "wont negotiate from a position of weakness", "won't reward violence" etc A cursory look at the circumstances preceeding the withrawal from Sinai and Lebanon ....

No self respecting American politician or media pundit would even consider suggesting caving into demands of Al Qaida in Iraq, even when videos of kidnapped and decapitated American soldiers were put on the internet. The Americans didn't budge, and the kidnappings stopped. Period. Mr Melman, you only project weakness, which the enemy smells. You take a short term gain for a much bigger long term cost. The only time we should consider a mass release is in the context of amnesty related to a peace agreement. Otherwise you make a joke of our criminal justice system, and of the IDF soldiers who risked their lives capturing the terrorists.

Yossi Melman expresses contempt for his own country-and himself.

First of all your contention that releasing terrorists would not hurt just because there are many other terrorists is bogus on many accounts. First, because there are not so many people willing and being able to fight on the other side as you want us to believe. Releasing hundreds of prisoners is like adding 10 or 20 percent of battle-hardened troops and in the event of the next war it means more Israeli soldiers dead. Not to mention that many of them are not troops at all, but experts, whose worth is not measured by numbers alone. Secondly, why is it that we always have to know the price. I am an economist and I know that you are wrong. Price is not known, it is set by the interaction of the seller and buyer. The idea that it was not good to haggle is also wrong. Although Shalit's family suffered all this time, the families of the Palestinian prisoners did too, and for the future they know that capturing the next soldier does not mean that they will get all they want the next mornin

for hostage taking just flew through the roof. How many more hostages and how much more Israeli blood for the ransom of one? I would like to see him free also but what will be the final purchase price in terms of terrorism, blood and more deaths , not to mention more hostages. Stupid, stupid , stupid ! How many are willing to have their hands stained or , rather, soaked with so much innocent blood ?

"The real question is why Israel always spouts loud cliches about how it "won't give in to terror" and then always - but always - gives in. It would have been better to conclude this deal a year or two ago. It would have been better to agree immediately to the enemy's harsh terms instead of haggling and haggling and then, finally, capitulating - and thereby winding up humiliated " You misrepresent the way circumstances developed, Melman. From the beginning, Israel showed a willingness to exchange prisoners for Shalit. The line was NOT that Israel won't give in to terrorism. The terms were ALWAYS over the nature of those to be released. THAT is what the haggling has been over.

Thanks to yossi Melman.

It would have been MUCH better to "MAKE NO DEAL" at al!! This "deal" is sending out the COMPLETE WRONG message!It's an open invitation for future kidnappings, which already have been "announced" by Hamas and who can blame them?? They "recognize a good deal" and take "full advantage". Furthermore THIS makes Israel looking "humiliated".....talking BIG, telling everybody in the world "not to NEGOTIATE" with terrorist and than doing excactly that. This "deal" won't bring anything good for the future...only the opposite. Having said all this, I know it's easy to talk not being in the shoes of the parents and of Shalit who are going through this terrible ordeal, but so are the families of the "victims" of those "freed terrorists", THEY got real "LIFE SENTENCE", without parole!

Melman is terribly, terribly wrong. This irresponsible and thoughtless exchange exposes each IDF soldier to - yes - kidnapping throughout the land of Israel. It is a massive betrayal of trust by the national leadership. The consequences will be dire.

None of the parties is changing whatever they think of each other. Don't expect that. There might be some very tiny winking that is going on, but who knows? Anyway, at this point to the rest of the World, everyone looks like crap. So on account of diplomacy being seen at the present moment as something superior to reaction, everybody that participates and comes to some kind of positive outcome will no doubt look a little shinier. However, be on the lookout for terrorists right now. No matter what sort of terrorists they are. You know. Everytime there is a little light at the end of the tunnel to be seen, some assholes want to ruin it all to make a point only they can understand. Be careful everybody! Mazel Tov to all the Peacemakers!

Israel has certainly the power to demand a "price" from the Arabs as well! All we got to do is just start "demanding". The tables will then turn.

The Military censorship blackout is entirely appropriate in this case. It keeps politicians from shooting off their mouths to exploit the Shalit family for political gain. Sometimes I wish it were so easy to shut up American politicians. And nobody who might be released could be worse than Captain, now Major R. He's walking around free as a bird.

So, all hamas has to do is to kidnap a few more soldiers and get all their terrorists back? Is this an outrage or what?. Whilst every one agrees that he should be brought back, let me ask you - who is going to pay body guards to every Israeli soldier, so that they will not be kidnapped?. GET with it, pls. There are other means which have never been explored, and were not taken during the last war either - Are the leaders of Israel failing in their duties? YES. They prefer to be humiliated than make a stand, it is easier and goes better with the world. Who cares about Israel when its leader dont - and they are showing it at every turn. May G-d Bless Israel, because no-one on earth gives a damm about it. And where are its leaders - Who knows - are there any? Who knows?

The defeatist, sniveling, groveling tripe he spouts in this article is a tragic reflection of all that is wrong with Israel. He doesn't know if he is coming or going; he lies to himself about the impact of releasing terrorists; he quibbles about definitions; and finally he capitulates, happy to have Shalit released--until the next soldier is "captured" or "kidnapped," or until the terrorist mastermind he wants to have released begin killing more innocent men, women, and children.