The following issue is such a deeply personal one for our community. It is fiercely debated in Israel right now. I am going to outline for you what the Talmud says about it and point out the arguments for and against, but for the purposes of an equal ended discussion I will not offer my own point of view.
Gilad Shalit was kidnapped on June 25, 2006, by Hamas terrorists. We hope that he is alive & well - our prayers are with his family that he come home safely and unharmed. The Israeli government is currently negotiating with Hamas for his release. It is unconfirmed but the rumors are that Israel is willing to release 1000 terrorists in exchange for Shalit.
What is the Torah view on this? Is it permissible or not?
Firstly redeeming a captive is considered a huge Mitzvah, so much so, that it is permissible to sell a Sefer Torah in order to use the money to obtain his release.
The Mishna in Gittin states:
"One does not ransom captives for more than their value because of Tikkun Olam." - so that they should not seize more captives,” i.e., paying a high ransom for captives will encourage kidnappers to kidnap more Jews and demand still higher ransoms.
In our case at hand the kidnappers are not interested in money. They want terrorists released.
Here are some facts: In the past Israel released many prisoners for a huge amount of Arabs. In November 1983, 6 Israelis were released for 4500 Lebanese + 99 terrorists. In May 1985, 3 Israelis were released for 1150 terrorists. In June 2000, 1 Israeli + 3 bodies were released for 400 terrorists. In July 2008 the coffins of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were released for Samir Kuntar and 4 others. (Their Hezbollah captors had withheld any information about the conditions of the two soldiers since they were captured on July 12, 2006.)
Here are some basic arguments in favor of the release of the terrorists:
1. According to the Torah, one who saves one life is equivalent to saving the whole world – every single life is worth an entire world.
2. We can assume that Gilad Shalit has been tortured. He is in immediate danger. If we don’t do something NOW it may be too late.
3. Israel must do everything it can to redeem captives like Shalit because if not, our soldiers will retreat in battle rather than risk capture.
4. Israel has a moral obligation to do whatever it takes to redeem its citizens.
Arguments against:
1. Releasing terrorists for hostages encourages the kidnap of more Israeli soldiers because they see that they are getting something valuable in return.
2. When Israel has released terrorists in the past they have gone on to murder more Israeli’s so yes, you are saving one life but you are killing many, many more Jews.
3. Israel should not redeem captives at any price. If terrorists know that they will always be freed, Israel loses its power of deterrence.
4. An investigation by the Almagor Terror Victims Association in Israel revealed that at least 30 of the terrorist attacks perpetrated since 2000 were committed by terrorists freed in deals with terror organizations. Many were freed in the framework of goodwill gestures because they were defined by Israel as “without blood on their hands.” The bloody swath cut by these terrorists claimed the life of 177 persons, with many others wounded and made invalids.
On the one hand our hearts break at the mere thought of what Gilad Shalit must be going through and therefore we must release him at any price and we will deal with the consequences later. On the other hand what about the long term effect? What about the blood that will be spilled later?
Here is one more story from the Talmud in Gittin: Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hannania was in Rome and they showed him a handsome Jewish boy in prison. When he tested the boy and saw that he knew the Bible by heart, he said: “I am certain he will become a legal authority! … I will not leave here until I redeem him for whatever price they name. He did not leave until he redeemed him for much money.” The little boy grew up to become Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha.
Tosafot derive from this story that when there is mortal danger, one may pay more than the captive is worth.
Another opinion in Tosafot says that we derive from this story that after the Destruction of the Temple, Jews are targets in any case and paying a high ransom will not cause more or less kidnapping.
What is your view? What should Israel do?
ב"ה
Nom de Guerre wrote...
To illustrate then, the question is perhaps answered with another question (Hebraicly appropriate): through which filter does one consider events in the world and make conclusions?
If one sees the world and the Jewish experience through the prism of pragmatic, earthly realpolitik, then perhaps Am Yisrael shouldn' release one soldier or even 100 if such a release is directly correlated with causing the death of 101 Jews.
If, on the other hand, one sees the world through Judaic filters where it is Gd's will that is manifest, then save that single Jewish captive because saving the life of one person and one Jew is as if one has saved the world--and surely saving all in the world is worth more than the 100 deaths that may result. In this scenario, we would have left it to Gd to determine who lives or dies as a result of releasing that 1 Jew and creating the deaths of 100+ more.
Marian wrote...
There must be something else Hamas wants besides these terrorists who I'm sure they will use to train new recruits, in exchange for Gilad Shalit.
Israel has to be more creative with their dealings with Hamas and come up with something other than jailed terrorists in exchange for Gilad Shalit and every other Jewish person being held by Hamas.
Marian