Beyond the debate over the morality or justice of Israel’s deal to release 1000 terrorists for one kidnapped soldier lies a simple fact: the Arabs always regard Israel’s last offer -even if rejected – as the starting point for new negotiations. Now that the Shalit formula has turned out “successfully,” the precedent has been set. If Israel wants to get the Arab thorn out of its side, it will have to give exponentially more than it receives. And even then Israel will have to accept the likelihood its bargain will come back to haunt it.
