Much more here on the deal's effect on the "peace process," the bitter fruits of moral equivalence, the nature of the enemy and the choices no human being should ever be forced to make.No decent person can fail to be moved by the return of Gilad Shalit to Israel. Few eyes will have been dry at his reunion with his family. Yet it has to be said that ultimately, this deal represents a triumph of heart over head and sentimentality over realism.
The Shalit family did what many of us hope we would have done in similar circumstances - fought a tenacious and brilliant campaign to sustain public pressure on the government to secure their son's release.
It was, however, emotional blackmail - and the Israel government should have resisted it. Shalit came to be regarded as every Israeli's son.
Tragically, however, in the years to come Israel may come to realise that it paid for the life of Gilad Shalit with the blood of further murdered Israelis and the lifelong torment of their families.
Yet no-one should underestimate the extreme difficulty of the decision Netanyahu was forced to take in this case.
Heart over head
A devastating but magnificent analysis by Melanie Phillips.
