On Gilad Shalit

On June 25, 2006, an Israeli soldier was captured by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid. At the moment that I am writing this, that soldier, Gilad Shalit, remains in the Gaza Strip as a prisoner of Hamas. As of today, Galid Shalit has been in captivity for 1371 days. His continued captivity is a blemish upon the Israeli national consciousness and an affront to Israeli self-respect.

How is it possible that one of our own soldiers--soldiers who make a tremendous sacrifice and who the Israeli government ostensibly does everything to protect--could be in captivity for so long? Why is Gilad Shalit still a prisoner, and, more importantly, what must be done in order to free him? What can we do to bring Gilad Shalit home to his concerned and doubtlessly overwrought family?

Like seemingly all things in Israel, the answer is a complicated one. The central issue is this: How much is Israel willing to give up for the life of a single soldier? How Israel responds to this issue has said and will say an awful lot about Israeli society and Israeli mores.

In July 2005, Gilad Shalit enlisted as a soldier in the IDF. He followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Yoel, and elected to serve in a combat unit. In enlisting as a soldier, Gilad Shalit was no different from the majority of Israelis. Unlike the United States and many other countries, military service in Israel is compulsory; unless there is some outstanding reason which prevents military service, everyone is required to serve.

The obligation to serve in the military--and the military in general--play prominent roles in Israeli society. From a young age, Israeli children are forced to cope with the reality that once they reach an appropriate age--shortly after graduation from high school--they will have to serve in the army for two or three years (depending on gender). Society expects this of them. And military service is not easy. From what I have heard (I have not served in the military), soldiers sleep fours hours a night; go on long marches with 25 kilogram backpacks; must learn how to operate a machine gun; and are often pushed to their physical and psychological limits.

But even more than this, by agreeing to serve in the military, Israelis, in many cases, put their lives on the line. The reality is that Israeli soldiers do die in the defense of their country. Whether it's from Hamas, Lebanon, Syria, or countless other enemies, Israel is always at war; Israel must always fight to defend itself. And even soldiers who don't fight in wars such as The Second Lebanon War in 2006 or the Gaza War in 2008-2009, assume a substantial risk that they will be killed by such enemies.

Consequently, Israeli society expects that the military will do everything in its power to keep soldiers safe and, if they are abducted, bring soldiers home. This is the de facto contract that the IDF makes with Israeli families and parents: you agree to let your 18 year old son or daughter serve in the military and we agree to do everything that we can to bring them home safe and sound. In the absence of such an understanding, parents would never let their children serve in the IDF; if it appeared that the IDF was needlessly endangering soldiers or failing to ensure their securty, Israeli mothers and fathers would protest and far fewer young men and women would enlist.

When Gilad Shalit enlisted in the IDF, he was doing so based on such an understanding--that the Israeli army and government would do everything that they could to ensure his safety. And indeed, since Gilad's capture, the Israeli government has made tremendous diplomatic and military efforts to free him (from Wikipedia). Immediately after his capture, in the words of an Israeli spokesman, "Israel did everything it could in exhausting all diplomatic options." Additionally, shortly after Gilad's capture, on June 28, 2006, Israel launched a military offensive which resulted in the death of 277 Palestinians and 5 Israeli soldiers. Since June 2006, after these initial attempts to liberate Shalit failed, the Israeli government, under both Netanyahu and Olmert, has been involved in ongoing negotiations to free the Israeli soldier. More recently, in January 2009, "it was reported that Israel was offering to free 1000 prisoners in exchange for Shalit." And in March of 2009, it appeared that a deal to free Gilad was close. Since Gilad is still in captivity, clearly, at some point, negotiations broke down.

This leaves us with the question and the issue that I would like to focus on: Is the life of Gilad Shalit worth 1000 prisoners or should Gilad be made to sacrifice himself for the greater good of Israeli society? Obviously, any answer that I provide will be fraught with controversy.

On one hand we have the following: While Gilad's capture is certainly tragic and upsetting, under no circumstances can Israel accede to Hamas's demands. Freeing a 1000 prisoners, many, if not most, of whom are extremely dangerous, would represent a grave threat to Israeli society. In all probability, the prisoners released in this deal would eventually result in the death of more that one Israeli. Why is Gilad Shalit's life more valuable than the other Israelis who would almost certainly be killed? In negotiating for Gilad Shalit, we must consider not only his life and well being but the life and well-being of all Israelis. Gilad is no more important than any other Israeli and such a capitulation would do grave damage to Israeli society as a whole. As hard as it is, for the good of the Israeli people, the Israeli government must refuse to free 1000 of its prisoners for the life of a single soldier.

Moreover, such a capitulation would set a dangerous precedent and would encourage Hamas to carry out similar actions in the future. If the capture and detention of one soldier results in the liberation of 1000 Palestinians, then Hamas has an obvious incentive to capture and detain more soldiers in the future. Doing so would almost certainly result in the liberation of more of their prisoners. This is crystal clear.

The above argument is rational and logically convincing. I cannot agree with it, however. We do not always decide based on reason and logical analysis, nor should we. Feelings--our emotional responses to a given situation--play a large role. And, if it were up to me, I would be completely incapable--emotionally--of looking Noam and Aviva Shalit in the eye and saying that Israel did not do everything in it power to free Gilad Shalit. Whether this involves military operations or freeing scores of prisoners, Gilad Shalit must return home. This goes back to the implicit contract that Israel makes with all of its soldiers (which I described), and, on a deeper level, to the idea that, in Israel, we are a family. It is unacceptable for the Israeli government to fail to do everything in its power to bring a soldier home. Whether rational or not, this is how I honestly feel.

We go through life and experience things as individuals. Just as I am individual, with my own perceptions and experience, so is Gilad Shalit. For that matter, so is everyone. The idea, then, that it's just one person, just one soldier, does not hold water for we are all just one person, just one soldier. And if I were in similar circumstances I would expect the Israeli government to respond in the same way that I am advocating. When Gilad Shalit enlisted in the IDF, this was the understanding that he enlisted under. He deserves the utmost from Israeli society and the Israeli government, no less.

That is my forthright opinion on Gilad Shalit. And I think that his captivity speaks volumes about both Hamas and Israel. From this case, it is strikingly clear that Hamas takes advantage of Israeli good will and morality, that Hamas uses Israel's moral standing in order to manipulate us for its own ends. This is a consistent problem that Israel faces in negotiation after negotiation with our negotiating partners--be they Hamas, Fatah, or others. While Gilad Shalit is having his rights as a human being violated, Israel is considering giving up countless prisoners to the other side. So it goes.

Admittedly, I have no idea how to solve this problem, how to change this dynamic, but I think that it says a whole lot about Israeli society that we are willing to go to such great lengths to free one of our own. I sincerely hope that, in the near future, Gilad Shalit returns to his loving family and his grateful nation.