What should Israel have done when Hezbollah captured two of its soldiers and demanded a prisoner exchange?
• Negotiate. There are many precedents for successfully negotiated prisoner exchanges, including three between Israel and Hezbollah since 1996. • The Lebanese prisoners Israel is holding were captured inside Lebanon in raids similar to that carried out by Hezbollah against Israel. Israel is imprisoning these men in violation of international law. • Throughout the crisis, Hezbollah has offered an immediate cease fire in exchange for a prisoner trade. Doesn’t Israel need to protect its population and act to secure the release of its soldiers? • Yes. Negotiations are the best way to achieve both aims. The course that Israel chose instead has further endangered its population and is the least likely to secure the release of its soldiers. • When Israeli security officials warned Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that attacking Lebanon would trigger reprisal assaults from Hezbollah on Israeli civilians, he gave this contradictory response: “There are times when the state needs to protect its citize
