"Israeli" soldiers believe they will be abandoned

Source: Haaretz, 12-12-2008
By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff

Tzipi Livni may have been trying to send a message to Hamas regarding "Israel's" unwillingness to pay the price it is demanding for Gilad Shalit. But her wording was distinctly problematic.
There is a big difference between the reality that fighting can result in casualties and the government's abandonment of a live soldier in captivity. And it is hard to overstate the importance of the latter. In a country giving its citizens fewer and fewer reasons to believe they ought to risk their lives in its defense (wars), it is crucial that soldiers at least feel convinced that everything possible will be done to bring them home should they be taken captive.
 
Media outlets have increasingly been declaring that "any price" should be paid for Shalit. It is hard to know whether the public agrees. In the cabinet, Shas and Labor ministers would apparently support a deal involving "painful concessions." How Kadima ministers would vote is less clear, though it seems that at least Shaul Mofaz would vote for it. Among defense (war) professionals, in contrast, the lines are clear. The chief of staff would support such a deal; the heads of the Mossad and Shin Bet security service would oppose it.

As for Hamas, it is gleefully watching the growing public pressure in "Israel" for the government to capitulate to its demands - namely, the release of some 1,400 Palestinian prisoners, including 450 whom it has demanded by name. These include many people involved in major (so-called) terror attacks, and "Israel" has thus far agreed to free less than half of them. But Hamas is convinced that "Israel" will eventually give in to the public and media pressure and free everyone on its list, regardless of how dangerous they are.

The negotiations over Shalit have also stalled for another reason: Hamas and Egypt, which has been serving as chief mediator, are openly at loggerheads. Hamas thinks Egypt is undermining its efforts to extort "Israel", while Egypt is furious that Hamas derailed its plan for a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation summit in Cairo. Egypt thinks Hamas is behind a series of Muslim Brotherhood demonstrations in Cairo that it views as a challenge to the regime, while Hamas is furious at Egypt's ongoing closure of the Rafah border crossing into Gaza. None of this gives Egypt much incentive to resolve the Shalit standoff, because any deal will only strengthen Hamas.