Israelis Agree With Shalit Deal

From Yahoo News:
"Majority of Israelis 'back Shalit deal'"

More than two thirds of Israelis approve of the prisoner swap deal made with Hamas for the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, a private television network said on Saturday. A poll commissioned by Channel 10 found that 69 percent of Israelis back the exchange of Shalit for some 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, 32 percent oppose it and the remainder gave no opinion. While backing the deal, 62 percent of respondents said the release of Palestinian prisoners would "worsen Israel's security situation." But 32 percent thought "it will have no impact." When asked what pushed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seal the deal with the Islamist Hamas movement, only 22 percent said he had acted exclusively "in the interest of Israel." In contrast, 35 percent thought he had caved in to public opinion. Another 35 percent said it was a bid to weaken Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, who requested UN membership for a Palestinian state, or to distract attention from the social opposition movement that rocked Israel in the summer. The Hamas rulers of Gaza are to release Shalit, captured in a cross-border raid in 2006, in exchange for a first batch of at least 450 Palestinian prisoners and a second of 550 within two months. Israel, which will decide on the prisoners in the second group, has not yet announced their names but a diplomat from Egypt, which brokered the deal, said his country had insisted since 2007 that they be members of Abbas's secular Fatah movement.

^ I think that this agreement (1 soldier for 1,000 terrorists) could only be achieved in Israel because everyone - men and women - have to serve in the military and know that it could be them or their loved ones that are captured by terrorists and held for years. Even countries that have conscription (like Russia) wouldn't be able to do this type of deal. While all Russian men are expected to serve many get official and unofficial excuses and don't. In Israel it is almost unheard of for a citizen not to serve - unless they are Israeli Arabs. I hope that Gilad Shalit is released and that Israel doesn't get attacked or bombed by the 1,000 Palestinians being released - or anyone else for that matter. This release shows the world (and the Arabs/Muslims) just how important a life is to an Israeli. ^

http://news.yahoo.com/majority-israelis-back-shalit-deal-141710976.html