Encountering Peace: An offer they can't refuse

Why is the government only now submitting a list of Palestinian prisoners to Gilad Schalit's abductors?

By GERSHON BASKIN
Last month it was reported in the media that Ofer Dekel, the person responsible for the "Gilad Schalit file," went to Egypt to present to the Egyptian mediators a list of 450 names of Palestinian prisoners that Israel agrees to release in exchange for Schalit. A week later it was reported that the "Ramon Committee" for setting the criteria for prisoner release finalized a list of 450 Palestinian prisoners to be presented to the Egyptians. Beside the obvious contradiction of these two reports, I wonder why no one has asked why only now, two years and three months after the abduction of Schalit is the government submitting a list of Palestinian prisoners to the abductors? What has the government done in the more than 800 days since the abduction? Immediately after the abduction there were attempts to locate Schalit and to bring him back through a military operation. There have been reports and some talk about a number of failed attempts. I have been told by reliable sources that it is known where Schalit is being held, but that the place is booby-trapped with explosives and any attempt to release him will end up with his being killed along with the soldiers sent to save him. There is no doubt that if there were a real option for a military operation to bring Schalit home, the government would back it unanimously, but there appears to be no such possibility. ABOUT THREE months after the abduction, Hamas issued its demands. Those demands included 450 Palestinian prisoners according to a list that it would submit; all of the minors and women Palestinian prisoners; in a second phase another 550 prisoners according to a list that would be agreed on later - in total about 1,500 prisoners. Hamas submitted, through the Egyptians, a list of 350 names, including the most vicious and vile terrorists that Israel has ever known who caused the death of hundreds of innocents. Since the time of the abduction the only change in Hamas's demands has been to receive guarantees that the cease-fire would continue after the prisoner exchange - something which is not directly against Israeli interests. In addition to those terrorists were political leaders such as Marwan Barghouti and Ahmed Sa'adat who were responsible for sending others to kill Israelis and who are serving multiple life sentences. Additionally included in the list were the Hamas members of the Palestinian National Council arrested following the abduction of Schalit (about 40). Between the state of Israel and the people of Israel there is an unwritten covenant which says the IDF will not leave soldiers behind enemy lines. This covenant is one of the foundations on which the country's "peoples' army" is based. There is no doubt that acting on this covenant is complex and full of moral dilemmas for our leaders. The kidnappers, Hamas people, live by a different set of values. In Gaza human life is much cheaper - since Schalit's abduction Israel has killed more than 1,000 people in Gaza. One of the Hamas intellectuals dared to ask in an article in the Hamas newspaper: How many Gazans are worth one Israeli soldier? He was immediately reprimanded by the Hamas leadership for even asking the question. MANY BELIEVE that the release of Palestinian prisoners will bring about the murder of more Israelis. An organization of terror victims claims that 20 percent of those who have been released in past prisoner exchanges have returned to violence. If this is true, or even close to the truth, the dilemma of prisoner release in exchange for Schalit is very grave. Hamas has already indicated that it will not accept a list of "light" prisoners or those who have almost finished their prison terms. HAMAS CLAIMS that Israel has not demonstrated any seriousness at all; until recently it only agreed to accept about 80 names on the Hamas list of 350. According to the Egyptian mediators, Israel has still not submitted the list of the Ramon committee. AFTER SO much time of frozen negotiations, Israel should understand that Hamas has no intention of being flexible. Despite that, it is clear that it cannot accept the list that Hamas submitted. Why hasn't the Israel government initiated an alternative list? Or in the words of The Godfather, why hasn't it made an offer to Hamas that it cannot refuse? If Israel were to submit to the Egyptians a list of 2000 names of Palestinian prisoners made up of prisoners from Gaza, administrative detainees and veteran older prisoners - a significant tool for pressuring Hamas to release Schalit would be created. The risks involved in releasing 700-800 Gazan prisoners is small, noting that Gaza is hermetically sealed off, unlike the West Bank. There are about 750 administrative detainees who have not been brought to trial and have not been convicted of anything and among the 10,000 other Palestinian prisoners it is possible to find another 500 veteran, older prisoners - some who have been serving sentences from before 1993. The risks involved in releasing them would be considerably less than some of the names of the Hamas list. What would the families of the 2,000 prisoners say to Hamas once this initiative was published? It is important that the entire world know about this initiative to apply pressure on Hamas. The saying that this kind of negotiation should be conducted in secret is not always true. When the government is doing nothing or is not doing enough, from its point of view, the negotiations should be quiet and secret. IT IS important to point out that the release of the Hamas parliamentarians will be very problematic for Mahmoud Abbas. According to various reports, he has requested that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert not release them. Abbas has requested repeatedly from Olmert to release a significant number of Palestinian prisoners linked to progress in the negotiations so that the Palestinian people will understand that value of diplomacy and negotiations and not the value of violence and kidnapping. Unfortunately this has not happened. It is not too late and prior to the prisoner exchange for Schalit, Olmert should make a significant release to Abbas, including Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, who if not released to Abbas will be released to Hamas. To the shame of Olmert and his government, the State of Israel has not done everything possible to bring about the release of Schalit. Olmert still has a couple of weeks to serve. Schalit was abducted on Olmert's watch and Olmert should bring him home now. The writer is the co-CEO of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information and has been involved in behind the scenes talks for the release of Gilad Schalit.