The American Spectator

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went on national television today to announce that IDF soldier Corporal Gilad Shalit will be released in a few days after more than five years in captivity.

In exchange for Shalit’s release, Israel will free more than 1,000 Hamas members currently held in Israeli jails including fifteen directly involved in terrorist attacks against the Jewish State. Shalit was kidnapped by Hamas during a raid into Israel in June 2006 which would precipitate an armed conflict between Israel and the Hamas run government in Gaza resulting in a naval blockade which is still in place.

I’ll believe it when I see it. After all, Shalit’s release has appeared imminent on a number of occasions only for things to go back to square one.

I have mixed emotions about this turn of events. If this is on the up and up then I am glad that Shalit is alive and will be reunited with his family. On the other hand, these negotiations also serve to legitimize Hamas and pressure will be brought to bear on Israel to negotiate with Hamas even though it vows that Israel shall be destroyed and perhaps by the very people that Israel will release in exchange for Shalit. This has also been a source of contention for Israeli governments past and present.