"The status quo for prisoner exchanges harms Israeli deterrence, . . . encourages further kidnappings, increases the
possibility that captured soldiers will be mistreated or even murdered
in custody, and rewards imprisoned terrorists by releasing them early to
claim new victims," the report said.
"The Hizbullah and Hamas terrorists
have a good thing going."
The report was released on the eve of the Israeli-Hizbullah prisoner
exchange on Wednesday. Under the exchange, Israel would free five Hizbullah
operatives as well as an unspecified number of Palestinians. One of those
released was identified as Lebanese national Samir Kuntar, who in 1979 was
sentenced to life for the killing of four Israelis in Nahariya. The exchange
was opposed by the chiefs of Israel's intelligence community.
"By exchanging prisoners with the proxy organizations as if they were
law-abiding states, Israel can be seen as upgrading the status of the
organizations' unlawful combatants from terrorists and war criminals," the
report said.
"Such exchanges afford them the same rights as lawful soldiers,
without demanding from their leaders the reciprocal obligations. At the same
time, Israel downgrades the rights of its own captured soldiers by
overlooking the organizations' systematic depravation of PoW rights for
Israeli soldiers under the Geneva Conventions."
The report said the Israeli-Hizbullah exchange would encourage
abductions by insurgency groups. Already, many of the insurgents released by
Israel have resumed their former activities, the report said.
On Tuesday, the Israeli National Security Council warned Israelis not to
visit Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. The NSC's Counter-Terrorism Bureau reported
an Islamic plot to abduct Israelis in the Sinai.
"Activity by terrorist elements in the Sinai Peninsula, who are working
in order to abduct Israelis, raises the possibility that they intend to
perpetrate such an abduction in the very near, even immediate, future," NSC
said.
The Institute for Contemporary Affairs urged Israel's government to
establish guidelines for any future prisoner exchange. The government of
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been negotiating with Hamas for the release
of Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit, captured in 2006 and believed held in the Gaza
Strip.
"When Israel makes exchanges that are unequal, it is only natural for
Israel's enemies to view the illegal kidnapping of Israeli civilians and
soldiers, and the violation of their legal rights in captivity, as an
extremely profitable activity," the report said.
"Israel's capitulation in
the Goldwasser/Regev [the bodies of soldiers returned by Hizbullah] deal
makes the terrorist organizations appear strong and successful and, thus,
encourages additional support, recruitment, and donations to the
organizations."
