The abduction and brutal murder of Tomer Hazan is a warning light. Over the past year alone, there have been dozens of thwarted attempts to kidnap Israeli soldiers and civilians, thwarted, sometimes at the very last minute, thanks to the professionalism, and luck, of Israel's security services.
There is one sure way to sap Israel's power, and that is by kidnapping a civilian or soldier. All of our military squadrons, divisions and brigades won't help as soon as another "child of us all" is sitting in the dungeon of a terror organization. When that happens, public relations agencies, nongovernmental organizations and countless former generals will tell us that Israel's power derives from freeing our captives, that this is what sets us apart from our enemies. At the moment of truth, our leaders, who preached for years never to negotiate with kidnappers, will take political considerations into account and release thousands of murderers with blood dripping from their hands.
When will we understand that our enemies learn from our actions and reach the necessary conclusions? Even those who ponder the need for dialogue know that there is only one sure way to make Israel capitulate. Under stress, and in order to have others decide for them, our politicians appointed a committee, led by retired Supreme Court President Meir Shamgar, which recommended that Israel never negotiate with kidnappers, no matter what. But, as was the case with the findings of other committees in the past, it is as if these important recommendations were never made.
This produced a situation in which a restaurant worker decided he wanted to free his brother from an Israeli jail and conducted a private operation that included murder and a plan to negotiate for the release of prisoners. How can we explain to Tomer Hazan's mother that releasing thousands of murderers in exchange for our captives only strengthens us? Some will say that there were kidnappings before the last deal and ask what we would do if our own child was taken. But they forget that the state cannot act like a parent, but rather it has to act as a state.
Logic is simple and cruel. When you teach your enemies over the years how to deal with you, they will try to exploit your weak points. The only path forward is to change the rules of the game by creating incentives against kidnappings.
This year, Israel's security services were able to save almost 40 Israeli soldiers and civilians from being kidnapped. Unfortunately, they could not save Tomer Hazan and there is no argument that will justify the state's policy on the kidnapping issue to Hazan's parents. How much longer-
Rami Igra is a former head of the Mossad's Prisoners and Missing Soldiers Department.
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו