There has been much soul-searching in the Israeli media and within the intelligence and political echelons about the lessons learned from the Shalit affair. Among them there have been a few references to the Abusisi kidnapping which reinforce the impression that Mossad took him because it believed he had some connection to Shalit, something I’ve reported here before (I’ve used the English version of this article and touched up a few vague points with my own translation from the Hebrew):
Particularly surprising is the fact that during the five-year period of negotiations, Israel hardly took as hostages any “bargaining chips” who were Hamas members involved in the Shalit abduction, or persons close to them. Muawash Al-Kadi, a Hamas member from Rafiah, was kidnapped in 2007 and the engineer Dirar Abusisi was kidnapped this year in Ukraine under mysterious circumstances and brought to Israel. In both cases, the kidnappings yielded nothing [useful to find Shalit].
What’s important about this passage is first that Muawash Al-Kadi is described as a known Hamas member and Abusisi is not. It also indicates that the latter was abducted because Israeli intelligence thought he could provide information about Shalit and he didn’t. This means that all the other nonsense about Abusisi being Hamas’ chief rocket engineer trained at a Ukraine military engineering academy; or that the Gazan planned, with the support of Hamas’ military wing to create a military academy in Gaza–all this is utter nonsense.
They took him because they thought he could lead them to Shalit and he didn’t and he couldn’t. Everything else is hot-air, including the claim that he had any close affiliation with Hamas. Let Israel’s spooks come down off their high horse and admit they screwed up. Abusisi doesn’t belong in prison. He belongs home with his wife and six children. I’ve reported earlier that this innocent man suffers from painful kidney stones and accompanying sky-high blood pressure. The medical care offered to him has been substandard. Let Dirar go home. Enough with this mess created by Israel’s Mossad.
“Particularly surprising is the fact that during the five-year period of negotiations, Israel hardly took as hostages any “bargaining chips” who were Hamas members involved in the Shalit abduction, or persons close to them.”
A blatant lie! The facts prove otherwise. Israel kidnapped sixty-four (64) Palestinian legislators (MPs and officials including 8 Palestinian ministers) around 28 June 2006, just 3 days after Gilad Shalit was captured.
link to news.bbc.co.uk
According to a Guardian report, most of the Palestinian MPs were still in Israeli jails as at 26 August 2008 (“Around 9,000 Palestinians remain in jail for political crimes, among them 47 Palestinian MPs and at least 1,000 people who are being held on “administrative detention”).
link to guardian.co.uk
Futhermore, Israel kidnapped two (2) brothers, Osama and Mustafa Abu Muamar (sons of a Hamas member), from their home in the middle of the night (03:30am) on 24 June 2006, 1 day BEFORE Gilad Shalit was captured.
link to news.bbc.co.uk
Take it easy. You didn’t read the last part of the quoted passage: “who were involved in the Shalit abduction or persons close to them.” Israel abducted many Palestinians as you correctly note. But only those 2 were directly connected (in the eyes of Israel) to the Shalit capture.
“Particularly surprising is the fact that during the five-year period of negotiations, Israel hardly took as hostages any “bargaining chips” who were Hamas members involved in the Shalit abduction, or persons close to them”
Does this mean that taking hostages is a normal Israeli practice? does it suggest that Israel DID take hostages OTHER than Hamas/shalit connected folks? (It sure does not say that Israel NEVER, NEVER takes hostages.)
It’s not normal practice but happened once before in the case of Ron Arad where both Obeid and Dirani were abducted by Israel as a bargaining chip with Iran/Hizbollah
Sure it’s a normal practice. Israel kidnaps enemy nationals whenever it needs bargaining chips. It did so during the Lebanon War & numerous other times. The “chips” if not used rot in Israeli jails sometimes for yrs. Many of them are never charged w. any crime. The kidnappings Shmuel mentions are only the tip of the iceberg.