DOA - Thoughts on the Prisoner Exchange

Eldad Regev and Ehud "Udi" Goldwasser returned to Israel yesterday--in a coffin. It appears that they were killed upon their capture by Hezbollah two years ago at the start of the 2nd Lebanon War. They were dead on arrival in Lebanon and DOA upon their return to Israel. During the intervening two years, their families and by extension the entire Israeli society were cynically left in netherland about their condition by Hassan Nasrallah (Hezbollah) with the complicit approval of the (however weak) Government of Lebanon. (The Lebanese leadership--its (new)President and Prime Minister as well as other government members attended and blessed the returning released prisoners from Israel as "heroes".) While Lebanon --and the rest of the militant Islamic world (especially the Palestinians and Hamas as well as Iran) hailed the event as a celebration of victory, in Israel the entire day was a somber and emotional difficult one. The agreement may have provided, finally, closure to the 2nd Lebanon War, it came at a tremendous cost.

With the bodies back, the "armchair quarterbacking" and second guessing has begun in earnest. Just see today's Haaretz newspaper.

While criticizing Israel's behavior, Amos Harel writes:

citizens in the street were up in arms over the last dirty trick that Hezbollah tried to play, when a senior member of the organization, Wafiq Safa, kept the suspense alive until the very last moment by refusing to reveal -- a look of smug self-satisfaction on his face -- whether the soldiers were alive or dead. ... We released a child killer [Samir Kuntar] and got coffins in return.

Israel Harel critiques Israel for paying an exorbitant price and compromising its values. Shlomo Averini criticizes the Israel government/leadership for not setting its policy straight and allowing outsiders -- the media, the families and public opinion, a commitment to doing EVERYTHING to bring soldiers back --to direct its actions which cold affect future situations.

The one suggestion that needs to be implemented immediately is:

Israel must announce that it will not begin negotiations without knowing whether the captives or abductees are dead or alive. At the same time, Israel must insist that representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross be permitted to see the captives and submit an official report on their condition. This principle can be adopted now in the case of Gilad Shalit: It is not acceptable for the kidnappers to give his family a letter, as an act of kindness, without a transparent report on his condition. Both demands are backed up by international law.

From everything I read and heard in the media, it was pretty clear that Udi and Eldad died during (or immediately following) their abduction. Why wasn't it made common knowledge so negotiations and family expectations concerning their release be taken into account? Would we have really released Kuntar for bodies or would it have been better to keep him as a "bargaining chip" for either REAL information on Ron Arad or a live soldier? The way it was, and now is, it appears that Israel was blind to the reality (of the situation and the "rules of the game"/ realpolitik) and played for a fool. This is not a way for a strong sovereign nation to behave if it wishes to maintain its dignity and ongoing survival.