Gilad Shalit Returns to Israel, Moral Dilemma Debate Continues

I posted a simple status update on Facebook this morning, stating "Extremely happy that Gilad Shalit is home in Israel. A captive has been redeemed." One comment to my post summed up the moral dilemma in a concise way: "It is wonderful that Gilad has been released ... but at what cost? Do you think that the 400 murderers/terrorists that have been released will lead honest productive lives? And the 600 more to come in 2 months?"

The deal is obviously lopsided because it is 1,027 Palestinian prisoners (many of whom are terrorists and convicted murderers) in exchange for one Israeli soldier who has been held captive for over five years without even access to the Red Cross. Having these prisoners freed and back on the streets should be of great concern to Israel's security. It also sends the message to Hamas and other terrorist groups that Israel will free prisoners in exchange for captives.

However, it also sends a strong message to Israelis that the Israeli government will do whatever it takes to bring its captive soldiers home. If Gilad Shalit were my son, it wouldn't matter how many hundreds of prisoners it took to bring him back into my arms. And that's really why this moral dilemma isn't a dilemma after all. We just have to put our own children in Gilad Shalit's shoes, and then ask the question.

I remember my high school years in United Synagogue Youth (USY) petitioning the U.S. government to assist in the redeeming of the captive soldiers Ron Arad, Zachary Baumel, Yehuda Katz and Zvi Feldman. And in more recent years we prayed for the release of other captives as well. So the video footage of Gilad Shalit's return to Israel today is cause for celebration. It is a beautiful reunion and one that Gilad's parents truly deserve after their tireless efforts of the past five plus years.

As we celebrate the release of Gilad Shalit and the fulfillment of the commandment of pidyon sh'vuyim (the redemption of captives) in the middle of the Sukkot festival, we must also pray that Israel is able to protect itself from any terrorism caused by the prisoners it has agreed to release in this deal. At this time of great joy, we must also remember Lt. Hanan Barak and Staff-Sgt. Pavel Slutzker, the two young men who were killed in the same cross-border raid from Gaza into Israel that resulted in the taking of Gilad Shalit. May their memories be for blessings.

 

Follow Rabbi Jason Miller on Twitter: www.twitter.com/rabbijason

Comments

[colincolindale]

05:14 AM on 10/19/2011

Gilad Shalit: Israel, War and the Art of Propaganda

Gilad Shalit is an Israeli armoured tank corporal seized by Hamas militants in a daring raid behind Israeli lines five years ago in which two others of his tank crew were also killed. It was a military coup in act of war between Israel and the Palestinians. A war which has seen thousands killed and thousands captured and imprisoned with many subject to torture in Israel. Those that Israel has killed in this long-running war, including hundreds of women, children and other civilians in Operation Cast Lead are termed casualties of war – notwithstanding that a majority were non-combatants.

But when an Israeli conscript soldier, Corporal Gilad Shalit, was captured whilst on military service, he was misleadingly described as ‘kidnapped’ – a term that that is usually used in a civilian context to describe the abduction of a child.

And the 7000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails and often subject to regular torture to obtain information are not the ‘enemy engaged in war’ in which one either kills or is killed, but are termed by Israel, ‘murderers’, in an attempt to convey the impression that when Israel kills, it is the enemy but when Hamas kills it is murder. When the IDF intentionally bombs a family and their children in Gaza, or Lebanon, or uses banned chemical weapons, it is ‘collateral damage of war’, but when Hamas kills an Israeli family, it is always the ‘murder of innocents’.

[Teacher 15]

07:47 AM on 10/22/2011

-- Hamas struck from civilian areas for PR purposes during the Gaza War so people like you can accuse Israel of indiscriminate killing

--Anyone can be "kidnapped"; it's not a term reserved for children. And because there was a ransom demand--in the form of prisoners, not cash--Gilad was a kidnapped victim.

--As for the "Palestinian prisoners...often subject to regular torture..."
The world saw how refreshed and relaxed those people looked--and not a scratch on them; your accusation is therefore baseless. Besides, Israel is watched like a hawk from the RC and elsewhere. The nation must be very careful how she treats prisoners in her custody.

--"When Hamas kills an Israeli family," it is most certainly "the murder of innocents." Israel roots out terrorists; there is no deliberate killing of children. And white phosphorous, used during a war Hamas initiated, isn't banned.

Propaganda indeed.

[TommoB]

08:20 PM on 10/18/2011

I'm very glad that Gilad Shalit is home, but given the character of the Israeli government - as is most clearly represented by Prime Minister Netanyahu - isn't it most likely that the goal of this one sided prisoner exchange is the increase in chaos likely to result from the release of convicted murderers and terrorists into the Gaza strip, justifying continued Israeli repression of Palestinians?

[ANGEL53545]

09:13 PM on 10/18/2011

THEY WANTED THEM BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TommoB]

10:10 PM on 10/18/2011

If by "They" you mean the Palestinians, I'm not clear why that should change my opinion of what has been done? The deeply cynical nature of this move by the Israelis isn't changed by the fact that many Palestinians hate Israelis.

[rosychick]

04:41 PM on 10/18/2011

Can we hope that the Nobel Peace Prize winner (in anticipation of noble work in his presidency)Obama and Israeli President Peres will look in to the morality mirror and use their position to demand from Israel to release more than 12,000 Palestinians who have been jailed for demanding nothing but humanity, human rights, freedom and their own motherland. Or still, Obama will continue to obey the orders from the Tel Avive?

[Tzippi]

05:17 PM on 10/21/2011

Here you go, making things up. All of the Arabs being held have been given due process or you can be sure all of the liberals would be screaming. Israel jails people who murder their citizens. Maybe it's time for us to consider capital punishment so we won't be holding all these murderers who are then used for barter. Maybe you should spend a year or two living in Gaza and see how you like the government there.