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Source: http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=241646
It's Not about the Price
(Jerusalem Post) Hirsh Goodman - There is undeniable logic that the price Israel had to pay, 1,000:1, ostensibly sends a message of weakness to Israel's enemies, and stokes fears that it could only encourage more kidnappings. There are serial killers among those being released, who in many other democracies would have lost their heads a long time ago, and who will now be technically free to plan more murders. That is all true. But this is not about the price. What it is about is that Israel never leaves a wounded soldier in the field, that its servicemen and women know that no effort will be spared to get them back. What stronger message of national strength and unity could Israel send? It is a fallacy to see the exchange as weakness. There also was no military option. It was not a question of intelligence. Even if Israel knew exactly where Shalit was being held (and one assumes Israel did, as Gaza is a very small place), according to someone who I guarantee knows these things, there was no chance of extricating Shalit alive and without Israel sustaining serious casualties in the effort. And Hamas could kidnap another Israeli soldier with or without Shalit incarcerated.