By Michael Regenstreif
By the time you read this, there is a good chance that Israel will have repatriated the two soldiers, Ehud (Udi) Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, whose kidnappings from within Israel on July 12, 2006, precipitated the Second Lebanon War with Hezbollah.
For almost two years, the Goldwasser and Regev families, indeed all Israelis and supporters around the world, held out hope the two soldiers would come home alive. Sadly, that does not seem to be the case.
“As far as we know, the two soldiers – Udi Goldwasser and Eldad Regev – are no longer alive. As far as we know, they were killed during the kidnapping or died from their wounds soon after the incident,” said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert late last month when it was announced that a deal had been reached, through German intermediaries, for the return of the pair.
In return, Israel will release a number of Hezbollah terrorists, including Samir Kuntar, who brutally murdered four Israelis in 1979. That Israel has agreed to release Kuntar is seen as a concession that Israel has given up on recovering airman Ron Arad, who has been unaccounted for since being captured in Lebanon in 1986. Kuntar had long been considered a bargaining chip that Israel would use to bring back Arad.
The heads of Mossad and Shin Bet both opposed giving up Kuntar as it would indicate that Israel has given up on Arad. However, the Israeli cabinet overwhelmingly voted, 22-3, to release Kuntar in return for the remains of Goldwasser and Regev.
Two years of not knowing whether their loved ones were alive or dead; or, if alive, under what circumstances, has been a terrible ordeal. Last November, I spoke with Omri Avni, Goldwasser’s father-in-law, about the families’ very difficult dilemma.
“You don’t know if your son, or husband, or son-in-law is alive, or not; if he’s being fed, or not. You can’t return to the routine of a regular life,” he told me.
Hopefully, a funeral and period of mourning will bring some sense of closure for the Goldwasser and Regev families.
The apparent loss of Goldwasser and Regev is yet another tragic reminder that there were no good outcomes from the war in Lebanon two summers ago.
And what about Gilad Schalit, the other missing soldier? Schalit was kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists who had crossed over into Israel on June 25, 2006. They took him to Gaza where he has remained a Hamas prisoner ever since. Unlike Goldwasser and Regev, there has been evidence that Schalit is still alive.
There have been numerous rumours – all of which have turned out to be false – that Schalit’s release was imminent.
Many, including Schalit’s family, felt that the current ceasefire with Hamas should have been linked to Schalit’s release. Barring a breakthrough in the week between when this column was written and when it appeared in your mailbox, the ordeal of Gilad Schalit in Gaza and of his family at home in Israel, continues.
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Under the pressure of a continuing corruption investigation, it appears that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s time in office might run out in the next couple of months. He has been forced to agree to the holding of a leadership election in the Kadima Party he inherited from the stricken Ariel Sharon.
Labour Party leader, Ehud Barak, the minister of defence, had threatened to pull his support from the governing coalition unless Olmert agreed to a leadership election. Although Olmert, who professes innocence of wrongdoing, has yet to indicate whether he will contest the Kadima leadership, most observers think Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is most likely to win. Israel could have its second female prime minister.
Livni’s possible ascension to the Israeli prime ministership, like Senator Barak Obama’s possible election to the American presidency, signals a generational shift with tremendous potential for the future. Will such a leader emerge from Palestinian society, a leader with a vision for peace and prosperity with the ability to inspire Palestinian society to embrace such a vision?
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On a lighter note, a much lighter note, I saw Adam Sandler’s latest movie, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, a couple of weeks ago. I’ve never been much of an Adam Sadler fan and have never bothered to see many of his movies. But, there I was on a hot Saturday night in July, laughing hysterically at the antics of an Israeli superagent, the greatest counterterrorist agent of all time, a man who can catch bullets in his teeth and twist his opponents into human pretzels.
“How long can the fighting go on?” Zohan asks his parents over dinner. His father’s war, after all, only lasted six days while he’s been fighting for years and years.
“It’s been going on for 2,000 years,” answers his mother, “so it should be over soon.”
Zohan fakes his death and heads to New York to pursue his dream of being a hairdresser. The film overflows with nonstop crude jokes, sight gags and all manner of Israeli and Palestinian stereotyping. But it’s funny; much funnier and much more entertaining than I expected it to be.
I don’t want to give away too much of the plot except to say that, ultimately, the film does have a message that embraces peace and love.