Feb 25, 2005 – This week, Israel released 500 prisoners from its custody in what the media was quick to call a “gesture of goodwill.” Hamas just as quickly called the whole process of releasing prisoners a “farce”. Four hundred more are scheduled for release in addition to these 500 who are now out.

None of this is new. It happens every time Israelis and Arabs sit down to talk about broader issues. Everyone knows the formula by now.

*Arabs demand the release of prisoners in Israeli prisons as a precondition for coming to the negotiating table.

*The media lays the onus on Israel to make this “goodwill gesture.”

* America and the world, but especially America, is quick to pressure Israel to do this, and Israel complies.

* The media then says this is a prelude to peace.

* The intransigence of Hamas and other Arab groups towards Israel continues.

and

* Some of the Arabs set free in the release go on to kill Israelis.

* Peace is poorly served.

The Israel Legal Forum put together a list of 25 Israelis that it claims were killed by previously released prisoners and it filed a suit to stop the release. The Israeli Supreme Court arrogantly dismissed a similar suit by the Legal Center for Research on Terrorism, so there is little hope that any legal action will be successful.

Yuval Yoaz of Haaretz writes that the Legal Center claimed in their suit that 14 percent of previously released prisoners were implicated in terrorist activities after their release. Margot Dudkevitch of the Jerusalem Post cites government numbers going back to a prisoner release of 1985 (the “Jibril deal”), where of 238 tracked, 48 percent or 114, “resumed their terrorist activities.” These are not small numbers.

Israel continues to enact bad policy that follows bad precedent. With each release, Israel knowingly sacrifices her own citizens; some to death, others to lifelong injury and many to mental and emotional scars that will stay with them always.

Palestinians, for their part, threaten to walk and not talk if they don’t get what they want implying a continuation of violence. What this really is about then, is Israel giving in to those who threaten to harm her and it would normally would be called appeasement. But vision blurs and the fog of peace places sentiments in the way of good judgment and the charade is played out once again.

For Israeli families torn apart by released prisoners and for the victims themselves, this accommodation, this prisoner release, is a deadly act where too much is assumed and little is assured with too many paying the price.

We hope that the new leader of the Palestinians can prevent the deaths that naturally flow from acts like this. Ostensibly that is the rationale behind what Israel does when it yeilds to Arab threats, US and world pressure and an insistent media. But when they are wrong, more Israeli families grieve, the ‘gesture’ will again prove to be an empty one and the search for peace will be off to a bad start. Again.

a version of this editorial appeared in the print edition this week.nrg

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