Back in June of 2006, HAMAS militants kidnapped an Israeli solider who had crossed into the Gaza Strip. That Sergeant’s name is Gilad Shalit and the first video and audio of him was released relatively recently to the press, showing that he’s currently in good health. Since then, it’s been confirmed that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators (from HAMAS) are currently meeting in Egypt to discuss terms for Sgt. Shalit’s release from prison.

Under the current deal being ironed out, Shalit would be released to Egyptian custody and in exchange, Israel would release approximately 450 Palestinian prisoners. Then, when Shalit was returned to Israel by Egypt, another approximate 650 Palestinian soldiers would be released. In other words, the Israeli’s would be releasing about 1,100 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one captured Israeli soldier.

Should Israel be negotiating with HAMAS? Yes. No. View Results  Loading ...

In 2004, President Bush and his political allies criticized the Philippines for negotiating with terrorists in Iraq for the release of three contractors in exchange for the withdraw of Philippine troops. I wonder how many people are going to have the gall to criticize Israel for negotiating with terrorists. After all, Israel is touted as an ally in the War on Terrorism, and yet here they are on the verge of surrendering over 10% of all the Palestinian prisoners currently in Israeli custody in exchange for one soldier – is that how our allies in the Global War on Terrorism are expected to conduct themselves?

Well, it may not be so cut and dry. While HAMAS’s leaders drew up this massive list of names, the deal hasn’t been formalized yet because Israel claims that about 70 of the 1,100 do not meet the criteria for release. In other words, 70 out of the 1,100 are considered too dangerous to release back into the Palestinian Territories. The converse of that then leads us to believe that the other 1,030 of the 1,100 imprisoned Palestinians shouldn’t be in an Israeli prison any more than Sergeant Gilad Shalit should be held by HAMAS militants.

HAMAS negotiators and leaders are currently debating whether or not to settle for the 1,030 prisoners Israel is already willing to agree to. I don’t know who the other 70 prisoners are or what their crimes were, but it seems difficult to believe that HAMAS wouldn’t be willing to give in to a prisoner swap with a ratio that was over 1,000 to 1 in their favor. I realize that HAMAS – like most terrorist groups and Democrats – can be pretty unreasonable. But as unreasonable as they can be, they know a good deal when they see one.

I predict that they’re going to continue pressuring the Israelis to add at least some of the 70 controversial names to the release list, but they’ll be willing to take whatever they can get before Eid al-Adha, a Muslim festival that will occur at the end of November. With that said, I don’t know the 70 names being debated right now. If these are insanely important, high-level HAMAS leaders and this is their only shot at busting them out of prison, the negotiations could last well into 2010.