By Vic Rosenthal
The families of kidnapped IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev met with Pope Benedict XVI today, the Jerusalem Post reports. The Pope was said to be sympathetic, but of course he has little or no influence on Hezbollah. Why would they care what the ‘crusaders’ think?
Gilad Shalit also remains a captive of Hamas, perhaps in the Gaza strip, perhaps somewhere else, and the talk about trading him for 1,400 or more prisoners, including convicted murderers continues without resolution.
And now there’s speculation that another soldier, Guy Hever, 
who disappeared from the Golan ten years ago, is in the hands of the Syrians.
It is absolutely unacceptable that a nation can allow barbarian gangs and terrorist dictatorships to kidnap and hold her citizens with impunity. To the extent to which this is permitted, the sovereignty and right to exist of the State of Israel is diminished.
This, of course is the goal of Israel’s enemies, and they are pressing towards it in every area, from the Temple Mount to the issues surrounding the security fence, and of course the kidnapped soldiers.
Israel’s attempts to make deals for the return of hostages and to be conciliatory about the absurd claims regarding the Mughrabi Gate construction are correctly understood in the Arab world as signs of weakness. The only way to deal with barbarians is by proving to them that their behavior is counterproductive and indeed that the consequences for them are very painful. Unfortunately, in the case of the kidnapped soldiers, this means by using force to kill or capture the perpetrators.
“Israel tried that last summer in Lebanon and Gaza without success”, you say. Wrong — Israel used force, but not effectively and not against the perpetrators. Nasrallah and Meshaal are still walking around. Meshaal is now practically considered a head of state. And Syria was not held to account for her support of Hezbollah during the war, or her resupply activities which continue today.
Today PM Olmert is off to Turkey so that the genocidal Turks can lecture him about the Mughrabi Gate. I would like to see him stay in his office until the kidnapped soldiers are brought home, and not in return for the release of convicted murderers.
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