Israel’s cabinet approved ‘a rare prisoner swap with the Shiite militia Hezbollah, agreeing to free a convicted murderer and others in exchange for two Israeli soldiers who are believed to be dead.’ Yes, you read that correctly; Israel is willing to give up terrorists and will, in exchange, receive the bodies of two murdered soldiers.

The two soldiers are Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. The most important prisoner Israel is willing to set free is Samir Kuntar.

In case you’re wondering who Kuntar is: he’s an extremist, responsible for the deaths of at least five Israelis. He is a hero to most Palestinians; when he was 16 years old, he ‘shot and killed Danny Haran in front of his 4-year-old daughter, and then smashed her head with his rifle butt. Haran’s wife accidentally smothered their 2-year-old daughter as she attempted to quiet the girl in their hiding space.’ After that Kuntar killed two policemen.

It is likely that Kuntar and his fellow prisoners will quickly join Palestinian terrorist organizations in their war against Israel at the very moment they are released from jail. As such, the swap does not make any sense, whatsoever. It is important to Jews, in their religion, to be buried but… political leaders should also be realists. This is a horrendous deal. Israel doesn’t get any stronger by it, but the Palestinians do. The Palestinians are not weakened, Israel is. The exchange will not hurt Hamas’ safety, but it will hurt Israel’s.

Seldom have I heard of such a ludicrous deal. And people wonder why Hamas et al. refuse to put down their weapons. The reason is simple; Israeli and Western behavior leads them to believe that they may actually win this war. If not this year, then 20 years from now.