Gilad Shalit: Israel and Palestinians welcome deal

The long confinement of Gilad Shalit is coming to an end after the deal signed by Israel and Hamas. This Israeli soldier, kidnapped in 2006 by the Palestinian terrorists, will be freed in the next days after years of negotiations. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to free 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in two stages, 450 before the release of Shalit and 577 after. The deal has created a big controversy in Israel. The entire country is happy for the release of one of its best known faces and see the deal as something necessary, but many of them see the deal as a surrender to the terrorists and argue that the government has brought Israel to its knees.

When a group of terrorist blackmails a whole country by kidnapping one of their citizens, public opinion reacts in most of cases in favor of the agreement following their feelings, but more things should be taken into account, such as what will happen with the released prisoners and the ability of the terrorists to repeat the blackmail. One close example is the case of Miguel Angel Blanco, a basque politician assassinated by ETA in 1997 after been kidnapped for 48 hours, when the Spanish government of José María Aznar rejected to gave in to the assassins. Spanish society and even the relatives of Blanco understood the position of Aznar and supported him against ETA. On the contrary, we will be able to see in the next days people like Naser Yataima —killer of 30 civilians in an attack to the Hotel Park in Netanya— or Musab Hashlemon —author of the attack to a bus in Beersheva that killed 16 people— walking freely in the streets of Palestina.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15273206