The capture of dozens of Israeli soldiers and civilians by Hamas militants has stirred Israeli emotions more viscerally than any crisis in the country’s recent memory. It has also presented an impossible dilemma for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government. The Islamic militant group’s 2006 kidnapping of a sole young conscript, Gilad Shalit, consumed Israeli society for years, prompted Israel to bombard the Gaza Strip and release over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchan
FILE - Israelis attend a demonstration calling for the release of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, July 22, 2008, in Tel Aviv, Israel. Hamas militants seized Shalit in a cross-border raid on June 25, 2006, killing two other members of his tank crew.
Locating Israeli hostages in Gaza — something Israeli intelligence agencies failed to do in the case of Shalit — poses further challenges. Although Gaza is tiny, subject to constant aerial surveillance and surrounded by Israeli ground and naval forces, the territory just over an hour from Tel Aviv remains somewhat opaque to Israeli intelligence agencies, experts say.
“The release of any prisoners would be a huge deal for Hamas,” said Khalil Shikaki, the director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. “It would cement Hamas’ position in the Palestinian street and further diminish the strength and legitimacy” of the Palestinian Authority. To win last year’s election while standing trial for corruption, Netanyahu relied on the surging popularity of his far-right allies who seized on perceived threats to Israel’s Jewish identity.
“This is a serious dilemma,” said veteran Israeli political commentator Ehud Yaari. “The fear is that if and when a ground operation kicks off, Hamas will threaten to execute hostages every hour, every two hours, and that will become a really heated debate.”
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