THE VERY welcome release yesterday by Hamas of Sgt Gilad Shalit is particularly gratifying to a family that for five years has bravely fought, not least by camping outside prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office for the past year, to keep his name at the forefront of Israelis’ concerns. His every step to freedom yesterday was followed by a delighted nation.
The family’s efforts invested in securing the release of their son, and the quid pro quo of 1,027 Palestinians being freed from Israeli jails, have significance for both the stalled peace process and Israel’s internal political dynamic.
“I hope this deal will lead to peace between Palestinians and Israelis and that it will support co-operation between both sides,” Shalit said optimistically in his first comments to the media. And given that a fragile Gaza ceasefire has now held for some time, there are hopes that the dialogue mediated by the new Egyptian government might presage a new willingness to move forward and some expectations that the Israelis might now be more willing to ease the blockade of Gaza.
But, notwithstanding its willingness to engage with Hamas, albeit at second hand – and some would say in preference to Fatah – the government’s recent approvals of more West Bank settlement construction suggest that Netanyahu is in no mood yet for peace talks. Yesterday’s diplomatic coup, has however, certainly boosted his popularity and chances of re-election despite anger from some families of victims over the freeing of “terrorists”. Netanyahu has faced much criticism for inaction in both peace and security and domestic economic realms during his second term at the helm. He will hope the releases come to be seen as a defining moment for his premiership and legacy.
The contrast between Hamas’s success yesterday and the apparent diplomatic failure of Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas in his abortive UN bid for recognition of statehood will not be lost on Palestinians. Despite the latter’s clear delight at the releases, both his standing and his moderate arguments for the politics of engagement with Israel will have been undermined. Yesterday’s huge Hamas Gaza rally for the returning prisoners is testimony to as much – in the words of Yoram Cohen, head of Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic security service, “this strengthens Hamas and weakens Fatah”. And the prospects for the reconciliation of the two, deadlocked over who will lead an interim government ahead of elections, have certainly not been helped.