“Surveys showed a majority of Israelis supported the deal [to exchange 5 jailed Lebanese militants, including a notorious killer, in return for the remains of the two Israel soldiers whose initial capture sparked the war between Israel and Hezbollah two summers ago. The deal] upheld an unwritten pact between the country’s leaders and the public: Israelis send their sons and daughters to mandatory military service, ready to go to war; leaders do everything possible to bring them home, dead or alive, from battle.

‘This closes a circle for me,’ said Ira Ben-Giat, whose son died [during the] war against Hezbollah [...] ‘I was waiting for a justification to have sacrificed my son, waiting for these two boys to return home.  Today gives me this reason, and a reason to send my other two children to the army.’”

The reason being that, if Ben-Giat’s other children happen to be captured by Hezbollah, they can first be used as justification for a disastrous war, like the one Ben-Giat’s first son died in, and later their dead bodies can be used by Hezbollah as bargaining chips to secure the freedom of criminals and killers.

“Well, it looks stupid when you write it down,” stated Ben-Giat. “That’s why it’s an unwritten pact.”

No official word yet on whether Israeli leaders will move forward with a plan to trade to Hezbollah a nuclear reactor and two F-18s in exchange for a wheelbarrow, the complete collection of Lebanon’s Funniest Home Videos on DVD, an original pressing ABBA record, and half a pack of Marlboros.

Tags: war, israel, international affairs, unwritten pact, hezbollah, lebanon’s funniest home videos