Gilad Schallit: The Choice

To ransom the IDF soldier held by Hamas or not -- to exchange him for Arab terrorists or not -- that was the subject of our rabbi's sermon. He concluded that there was no proper answer. I listened and thought to myself: There may be no proper answer, but when your the leader of a nation, you must decide.

I further thought that the choice hinged not so much on whether to exchange Schallit for the terrorists, but whether this was the proper exchange; namely, 1027 terrorists for one soldier. The principal of exchange had already been established through earlier exchanges made by Israel. The only real question, it seemed to me, was whether the number of terrorists exchanged for Schallit was reasonable. (As it turned out, the only reason that the deal was consummated was because Hamas wanted to one-up Fatah's Abbas.)

I shared these thoughts with a young man who once served in the IDF. "What do you think of the exchange," I asked.

"They should never have made the trade," he told me.

"Not made the trade? Schallit might have died in a Hamas dungeon," I said.

"Maybe," responded the young man, "but there were other options."

"Really? Like what?" I asked.

"When a soldier is taken by the Arabs, the IDF should go in after them and do what they have to do. Anything standing between them and the captured soldier must be flattened. Nothing should be left undone until such time as the soldier is retrieved."

"But, wouldn't the chances be quite considerable that the IDF soldier would be killed in the process" I asked.

"Sure," he replied, "but, that's what it means to be a soldier; your life is on the line. Every soldier knows that."

"Well, son," I said, "I'm sure glad, I never had to face those prospects when you were in the uniform."