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Middle East
Israel’s Cabinet narrowly approves prisoner swap with Lebanese guerrillas
2003-11-09
A really bad idea....
Israel’s Cabinet on Sunday narrowly approved a hotly contested prisoner swap with Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, by a 12-11 vote, Israel TV said. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had staked his prestige on the deal, which would have Israel exchange more than 400 Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners for an Israeli businessman and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers. The swap excludes Israel’s most famous MIA, airman Ron Arad, who was shot down over Lebanon 17 years ago.
Why would they take this deal???
Critics of the deal warned that Israel would be seen as rewarding violence and would boost Hezbollah’s standing in the Arab world. In Lebanon, Hezbollah officials warned they would kidnap more Israelis if the deal collapses.
F16’s over Lebanon and Syria would be my response
Posted by:Frank G

#6  OP, Frank, and Atomic: Thank you for pointing that out. I never thought about the infiltration angle until now. That gives me some hope.
Posted by: Charles   2003-11-9 8:07:16 PM  

#5  cements further the Israeli soldier's commitment to the defense of Israel,

Dead on.
Posted by: Shipman   2003-11-9 4:36:48 PM  

#4  *sigh* Truthbetold, I'm ambivalent on this and wish Ron Arad were included, but yeah, there's the "no man left behind" factor -- now if only I were as confident as you in Hizb'ullah being paranoid enough to start the rubouts, I'm sorry but I'm not as optimistic ...

In Lebanon, Hezbollah officials warned they would kidnap more Israelis if the deal collapses.

There's always blaming Hizb'ullah for planning to undercut the deal to kidnap Israelis anyway and hitting first ...
Posted by: Lu Baihu   2003-11-9 4:09:50 PM  

#3  Even if Israel was unable to turn ANY of them, the paranoia will sow enough chaos in the wake of the exchange to make it useful to the Israelis. At the same time, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if a few of those being exchanged have small, almost undetectable bugs on them that can be traced by sophisticated surveillance systems. The next couple of weeks could prove quite interesting.

The deal also cements further the Israeli soldier's commitment to the defense of Israel, knowing the government will do whatever is possible, even when it doesn't make good sense, to get them back, should they be captured.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2003-11-9 3:26:10 PM  

#2  Even if they're not, the HB will have to assume some are - wonder how many will be wrongly killed as collaborators? - paranoia reigns supreme
Posted by: Frank G   2003-11-9 1:03:45 PM  

#1  Just a wild guess, a fair percentage of the 400 imprisoned terrorists have been turned and will begin reporting back on HB activity once they rejoin their former comrades. Some will recant, of course, but if only a few stay turned, the deal will be worth it.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy   2003-11-9 12:38:35 PM  

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