Once again, there's talk of a prisoner swap. Two of them, actually. For now, I'm going to focus on the demands that Hezbollah is making for the release of kidnapped Israeli soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. The kidnapped soldiers for whom Israel went to war in July. The kidnapped soldiers for whom Ehud Olmert vowed to keep fighting until he brought them home. The kidnapped soldiers for whose lives Olmert swore he would not negotiate with terrorists.
Those kidnapped soldiers.
Nasrallah seems particularly interested in three "Lebanese" men held in Israeli jails. The first, Samir Kuntar, we can only hope and pray will not ever be considered a candidate for release, no matter what. I won't waste more breath on this pile of sludge. If you don't already know it, the horrific story is here, among many other places.
It gets stranger.
The second, Nissim Nassar (Nasr), is actually an Israeli citizen, although reportedly born in Lebanon and of Lebanese descent. Here's the kicker: he's a Jew (his father was a Shi'ite Muslim, but his mother is Jewish). An Israeli Jew who spied for Hezbollah against Israel. Very nice. He gets out in 2008 anyway.
Yehia Skaff either died or was arrested in March or April of 1978 for his part in a terrorist attack on an Israeli bus in which 37 innocent civilians were murdered. That attack is better known for its catapulting of Dalal Mughrabi to hero status among palestinian Arabs. Slaughtering Jews is all it takes. One of those killed in that attack, BTW, was American nature photographer Gail Rubin. She had the misfortune to be taking photographs nearby.
It appears that Olmert may be considering offering some petty criminals of Lebanese descent in return for the soldiers. If that turns out to be the case, I'm not going to get too worked up about it. There's a limit to how far one can stand on principle when the lives of two brave young men are at stake. If a few car thieves go free, well, maybe that's ok.
Unless, of course, it encourages more kidnappings. This would be my bottom line. I know it sounds harsh. I know it's easy for me to say. But as Meir Indor of the Israeli Terror Victims Association said on the occasion of the last Lebanese prisoner swap:
"Today three mothers will get the bodies of their sons back, and tomorrow many others will cry over the result of terrorists being freed."
(originally quoted in the JPost but of course that link is now gone)
Today (and every day for the past few months) is tomorrow for the mothers of Gilad Shalit, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. How many more?
So no, wait, to Nasser. No, never, to Skaff (if he's even alive). And never, ever, to Kuntar, who is eagerly anticipating his hero's welcome back home (according to a report I read yesterday but now cannot find). Regardless of the pathetic posturing of Ha'aretz pundits. Never, ever.
