The Kuntar Deal--Not The First Time Releasing Murderers

Israel has a long history of exchanging prisoners in order to obtain the release of her soldiers. The Jewish Virtual Library has a list covering 50 years from 1948 to 1998.

Also, the current deal with Hizbollah is not the first instance of Israel trading a murderer--or murderers--for Israeli soldiers:

In practice, Olmert was in the same position as then-defense minister Yitzhak Rabin in the Ahmed Jibril deal. In that swap, on May 20, 1985, 1,150 Arab prisoners, among them some of the most vicious killers, their hands literally dripping with blood, were freed in exchange for three Israeli captives. Rabin later confessed that the pressure of the families was more than he could bear.

But while Rabin was the Defense Minister at the time, he was not the Prime Minister who OK'ed the deal. The Jabril deal came in the context of a new policy in dealing with the Palestinian Arabs:

...Contrary to Shamir’s perception of the facts, the IDF was unable to properly handle the “Intifada” (Popular Uprising) and scored only limited success in Lebanon. Other cabinet members, such as Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin, maintained that concurrently with military action against the Palestinian organizations, Israel must push forward political initiatives that would bring an end to the conflict; and these members gained more clout over time.

Throughout this period, Israel carried out various offensive activities (including several audacious, large-scale operations) and continued to invest money and human resources in defensive activities as well. These activities were carried out both routinely and as preventive and retaliatory measures. In hostage situations these governments continued the policies of their predecessors. Meaning that when a military solution was not viable, they were ready to make the needed concessions to the terrorists—as was shown by the “Jibril Deal” of May 20, 1985, concluded when Shimon Peres was prime minister. On that occasion, three Israeli soldiers held by the PFLP-GC since the Lebanon war were exchanged for 1,150 prisoners held in Israel. The number of terrorists who were released from prison, the severity of the crimes they had committed, and the government’s willingness to allow them to return to territories controlled by Israel, were all unparalleled.

Israeli President Shimon Peres will be the one to formally pardon Kuntar.

The Jabril deal had consequences. According to The Jerusalem Post:

Many of those 1,150 prisoners traded for Grof, Salem and Shai immediately took their places as militant Palestinian leaders, and at the end of 1987, they would be instrumental in launching the first intifada.

And there is one released terrorist in particular who as graduated to bigger things:

Jihad Alamrin – released as part of the Jibril deal in 1985:
* Founded the Al Aksa Brigades terror group in Gaza
* Planted explosives that killed IDF soldiers Cpl. Asher Zagori, Cpl. Moshe Peled, Cpl. Ron Lavi, Cpl. Matan Biderman and others.

Based on his resume, who knows what Kuntar may do.

Gil Ronen wrote back in October 2003:

Yoel Marcus, in a Haaretz Op-Ed piece from last week, recalls that in its previous wars, Israel had followed a policy of returning one enemy prisoner for every one Israeli prisoner returned.

"The turning point came in the Jibril deal in 1985, in which 1,150 terrorists, including the worst murderers, were exchanged for three soldiers," recalls Marcus. "After the fact, (then-Defense Minister) Yitzhak Rabin admitted that he was unable to withstand the pressure applied by the parents - especially that of Miriam Grof...The Jibril deal taught the Arabs that Israel would buckle under pressure, exposed its Achilles heel - its sensitivity to casualties - and in many observers' opinions ignited the first Intifadah.

But while it may be a blatant example of a policy of dealing with terrorists, the Jibril is not in fact the first example. According to the above-mentioned list on the Virtual Jewish Library, before the Jabril deal, not all exchanges were one-for-one, and the did involve terrorists:

Yom Kippur War

...On 4 April 1975, Egypt returned to Israel the bodies of 39 Israeli soldiers killed in action during the Yom Kippur War. In exchange, Israel returned 92 terrorists and security prisoners who had been held in Israeli prisons.

Operation "Litani"

On 5 April 1978, a truck carrying six Israeli soldiers and a civilian had mistakenly crossed Israeli lines (near the Tyre enclave), and encountered terrorists near Rashidia. Four soldiers were killed in this incident and one was taken prisoner. On 14 March 1979 he was returned in exchange for 76 terrorists.

Peace for Galilee War

On 3 September 1982, eight soldiers that were in a look out post in the area of Bhamdoun were captured by a terrorist group. Two of the soldiers were handed to Ahmad Jibril's PFLP, and the rest were held by the Fatah Organization. On 23 November 1983, the six soldiers held by the Fatah were returned in exchange for 4700 terrorists that were held in the Ansar detention facility in Lebanon and another 65 terrorists that were held in Israel.

On 23 November 1983, six IDF soldiers: Eliyahu Abutbul, Dani Gilboa, Rafi Hazan, Reuven Cohen, Avraham Motevaliski, and Avraham Kornfeld, who had been held prisoners by the PLO since 4.9.82 were released in exchange for 100 security prisoners and 4500 detainees from the Ansar detention facility.

The Jabril deal, like the Kuntar deal, was not conceived in a vacuum.

When Israel was involved in conventional wars with the Arab countries surrounding her, pure prisoner exchanges--not matter how unbalanced--were justifiable. Now that Israel is involved in a war with terrorists, that same policy is no longer viable and only serves to strengthen the resolve of those terrorists, while weakening that of Israel.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Technorati Tag: Israel and Kuntar and Jibril Deal.