He may not have much wisdom, but he has heart. The father of a woman killed by terrorists says he would agree to her murderers’ release from prison in exchange for Gilad Shalit.
The MK said he had sent Prime Minister Ehud Olmert a letter that read, “There is only one way in which the release of Palestinian prisoners would be acceptable, and that is to remove them from Israel and the West Bank and deport them to another Arab country.
“I propose that the release of any prisoner be conditioned on his or her leaving the country and the Palestinian territories,†Levy said in the letter.
He added that he would agree to the release of prisoners “with blood on their hands†if it would bring Israel’s captive soldiers back home.
“We can release these prisoners as long as they do not return to Gaza or the West Bank,†the MK said. “It is clear that if they return to these areas they will continue with their terror activity.
“I am not driven by vengeance, and Gilad’s return home is more important than holding any Palestinian prisoner,†Levy said.
The problem here is that they wouldn’t stay in whatever country they are transferred to. But it’s a noble gesture, one which I don’t think I would be able to make if I were in his place.
The other problem is that Hamas won’t agree to a reasonable exchange. They want a 1,000-1 exchange. And last, but certainly not least—you are once again proving to the terrorists that kidnapping works. So there will be more.
That’s impressive. I doubt I could be that magnanimous.
I’ve been holding off on a post on Levy because I’m so bad at untangling these prisoner swap stories. But even my first reaction was “that’s noble, but the problem isn’t the past murders and kidnappings – the problem is the future kidnappings that a swap inspires”