A clandestine undertaking on behalf of Israel, the Jets and the Jews.

 
How Israel Lost Its Way

There was very little reason for hope that either Eldad Regev or Ehud Goldwasser would be returned alive. There has never been a sign of life from them. More than two decades have gone by since a captured Israeli soldier came home alive. The terms of the prisoner exchange strongly suggested that both Regev and Goldwasser were dead. And Israel had stated that the soldiers almost certainly died during or shortly following Hezbollah's attack two years ago.

Nevertheless, when my son's crying woke me up at 3:57 this morning, I immediately turned on CNN International, anxiously waited for the turn of the hour and then felt sickened when the headlines reported that Israel had received two coffins from Hezbollah.

I turned off the TV but the sickening feeling remained. Regev and Goldwasser were confirmed dead, joining the Israeli soldiers and civilians who were killed during the 2006 War. The same exact government remains in power, even after having been as incompetent in dealing with rockets falling on southern Israel as it had been in dealing with Hezbollah's attacks on the North.

I did not agree with the exchange but that decision is not, in itself, the reason why I still feel sickened at 6:30 p.m.

Israeli president Shimon Peres claimed that today is a moral victory for Israel and lamented the celebrations in Lebanon.

Indeed, the Arab world joined today in tribute to child murderer Samir Kuntar. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Fatah leader and purported peace partner Mahmoud Abbas both congratulated Kuntar. Meanwhile, Lebanon's various and usually warring factions - including the one led by U.S. backed prime minister Fouad Siniora - all participated in the partying for Kuntar.

Today could be - and should be - a day of moral clarity about the enemy Israel faces. One need not support nationalist or hawkish positions to recognize that the difference between the acknowledged terrorists like Haniyeh and Hassan Nasrallah, and the supposed moderates like Abbas and Siniora, is imaginary. None of these people are partners for real peace.

Amidst the indignation about Kuntar being an Arab hero is quite a bit of hypocrisy.

Kuntar's crime is particularly horrific because he smashed the skull of a four year old girl. But is Kuntar ultimately more evil than those who sent him on his murderous mission? Is he more evil than those who bomb civilians - young children included?

Israel lost its way when it signed the Oslo Accords. Not because it agreed to partition the land and to sign away its rights. Not because Oslo was inherently a risky proposition.

Oslo is when Israel itself accepted the idea of making those who murder its citizens peace partners. The killers of the 22 schoolchildren in Ma'alot were no less evil than Samir Kuntar. Those who planned the Munich Olympics massacre, and the Fatah peace partners who committed the Coastal Road Massacre, are the very same people Israel has decided to shake hands and talk peace with.

Of course Fatah supports Kuntar; they share a common cause. In the late 1970s, both murdered Israelis of all ages. The difference is that only the crimes of Samir Kuntar will Shimon Peres refuse to "forgive or forget."
posted on 7/16/2008