Debbie, I think this trade was wrong for all of Israel. But there is no proof these guys were tortured. Articles in Maariv and other Israeli newspapers have always indicated that they died at the scene of the ambush. The Israelis did a thorough investigation of the vehicles (blood and tissue samples) and concluded no one could have survived the attack.
[SWG: THE SOLDIERS WERE KIDNAPPED/CAPTURED. WE DON’T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM AND WHEN. AND REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT THEY WERE TORTURED WHEN THEY WERE ALIVE, READ THE LINK TO CARL IN JERUSALEM’S WEBSITE. CLEARLY, THEIR BODIES WERE MUTILATED BEYOND RECOGNITION, WHICH MADE IT TAKE A LONG TIME TO VERIFY THEIR IDENTITIES. DS]

softwaregurus on July 17, 2008 at 2:41 pm

Hezbollah is once again showing its complete contempt for Israel by not only getting the best of a lopsided ‘deal’, but throwing it in Israel’s face by returning remains of Israelis who were clearly tortured. Of course the Human Rights nitwits won’t say a thing about that, nor will the European Union or US ‘officeholders who are friends’ of Israel.

c f on July 17, 2008 at 2:45 pm

Amazing what Islamic thugs can do to powerful nations:
Israel was defeated in Lebanon and in Gaza.
The U.S. was defeated for five years in Iraq and is still unable to defeat them in Afghanistan after seven years.
The U.S. was defeated on September 11, 2001.
Amazing.
With all their military power, the U.S. and Israel can be taken in minutes.
And Europe can fall in no time.
It’s not because the thugs are clever, it’s the Western leadership who allowed it to happen by its incompetence, cowardice and lack of patriotism.

Independent Conservative on July 17, 2008 at 2:53 pm

The Israeli government posted a video on YouTube which is an attempt to shame those who would cheer Samir Kuntar. While I am glad the Israeli government did this, it is really lame and could have been much better.
At any rate here is the link to the video on the Jerusalem Post’s web site.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215331004670&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

I_am_me on July 17, 2008 at 3:09 pm

AND REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT THEY WERE TORTURED WHEN THEY WERE ALIVE, READ THE LINK TO CARL IN JERUSALEM’S WEBSITE. CLEARLY, THEIR BODIES WERE MUTILATED BEYOND RECOGNITION, WHICH MADE IT TAKE A LONG TIME TO VERIFY THEIR IDENTITIES
I did. Its still hard to tell from that passage whether the dead bodies were mutilated, or they were tortured. I wouldn’t put it past these animals to torture, but until Israel releases more info, I cannot conclusively say.

softwaregurus on July 17, 2008 at 3:21 pm

“If we thought the enemy was cruel to the living and the dead, we were surprised, when we opened the caskets, to discover just how cruel.”
Any wonder 19th century Brit soldiers saved a bullet for themselves? What wretched, devolved creatures these are.

J-Lin on July 17, 2008 at 3:37 pm

For some things, words cannot express all the emotions. Thanks for this reminder and these photos.
The pic of this palestinian murder scum bag necking with garlic bad breath Nasrallah is so telling. Ohlmert needs to have his head examined to have agreed to release those murderers for some bones. Perhaps the torture these Israelis endured will provoke the Macabbees among the people. That would be a good outcome–hopefully one that will change the pandering government to a strong one.

BB on July 17, 2008 at 3:49 pm

Unless either the reporting or Rabbi Weiss was totally wrong, the passage from the link:
“Rabbi Yisrael Weiss, former Chief Rabbi of the IDF, who was present during the transfer of the fallen soldiers yesterday, said that “the verification process yesterday was very slow, because, if we thought the enemy was cruel to the living and the dead, we were surprised, when we opened the caskets, to discover just how cruel. And I’ll leave it at that.'”
suggests very very strongly they were tortured. The key phrase is ‘if we thought the enemy was cruel to the living AND (emph added) the dead”. It did not say the living OR the dead. The inclusion of both categories suggests very, very strongly that the mutilitation occurred both before and after their deaths, as if mutiliation after death is acceptable. We have to be able to focus on the essentials though, not nitpicking details that are irrelevant to the total barbarism of these savages.

c f on July 17, 2008 at 4:01 pm

Debbie, what made my skin crawl – is not that an Arab Nazi behaved like Arab Nazi. No! I expect that of the Arabs. What outraged me was the phony moral shock of the Israeli government that just released him alive and unharmed at the Hezbollah barbarism in torturing, mutilating and murdering Jews – like Nazis. Hey, Debbie – Samir Kuntar didn’t give a Nazi salute for nothing… that was intentional. The Israeli Prime Minister evinces phony moral compassion for the grieving families but he won’t defend living Jews from Arab Nazism. That is the true measure of the man and the people around him. They are the very antithesis of true honor and courage. For them, capitulation and cowardice is dressed up now as a “moral victory.” Israel’s leaders are not fit to lecture Jews about ethics. What they did, as long as Hashem lives, will neither be forgiven nor forgotten!

NormanF on July 17, 2008 at 4:39 pm

I watched the evening news from Syria TV last night. No subtly there. Female anchor ranted about the “victory” while her male cohort wore a s-eating grin the entire segment.

dm60462 on July 17, 2008 at 4:58 pm

One day this travesty of a prisoner swap is going to come back and haunt Olmert.Thats what he’ll be remembered for albeit the numerous scandals he’s been indicted for.How is Olmert even allowed to attended to funeral of the perished soldiers he failed to rescue is beyond me. How would Golda Meir and Menachem Began react to this? Why hadn’t this venal feckless sellout been ousted from the Knesset long ago?Hezbollah couldn’t have found a better friend and abbetor than Olmert.This fat S.O.B. Kuntar should have been shot in the back on his way out.I am shaking with rage over this and I’ve frankly grown tired of the defeatist attitude by our leaders. Man up and show more balls to the enemy and kiss less behind if you give an iota of a rat’s a$$ about the survival of your nation!
“Israel in a nation of the Talking Dead”-Michael Savage.
Or
“Olmert is The Dead Man Talking”-Me

American Sabrah on July 17, 2008 at 5:12 pm

American Sabrah – I share your sentiment. I find it despicable that the very man who abandoned Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev to their fate gets to pose now as the man who brought them home. Its sickening and no words can describe the depth of the anger and contempt that I feel for Israel’s sorry leaders, who exploit the families’ justified sorrow for transparent political gain.

NormanF on July 17, 2008 at 5:20 pm

The homo smooching is touching, lol.
Obviously Israeli leadership is not worthy of their offices. This dumbass deal serves to embolden further atrocities. Nice going Olmert. Once again palestinians prove that the only way to deal with them is to exterminate everyone of them. In what possible way would the world miss them? Less atrocities.

samurai on July 17, 2008 at 8:15 pm

Amercian Sabra, my sister said that Michael Savage stated there needs to be a military coup in Israel.
I have to be careful stating opinions such as this because this is not my blog, but Ohlmert will never change. He is way too corrupt. And I did hear Michael Savage (Weiner) say Ohlmert was ripping off money from that Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem.
Incidentally, I was in Israel (Mea Sherim) before Ohlmert was elected and told my baby brother that he would be a disaster for Israel. Unfortunately, I was right.

Underzog on July 17, 2008 at 8:25 pm

I say send them home in a box to west bank

lonewolf on July 17, 2008 at 8:36 pm

Just like i got pictures to remember the World Trade Center massacre: http://xf3.xanga.com/482c463ac6431200529117/w155390404.jpg YOU should be unafraid to show the real deal.

EminemsRevenge on July 17, 2008 at 8:41 pm

This both pisses me off, and breaks my heart. I just refuse to believe that there can be an entire culture not worth redeeming. unrealistic maybe, but I just can’t beleive it.

mindy1 on July 17, 2008 at 10:13 pm

I made aliyah a few years ago and I have been stunned by the stupidity and weakness of our government AND the Israelis, who, after all, put Olmert’s party in power. I love both my countries and my people, both Jews and Americans, but I’m very disheartened by how overrun with moonbats we are. It seems like there is nowhere to go. This last spectacle was just too much. What government allows Muslim animals to dictate the terms of an exchange? How can it be that we negotiated without proof of life or death regarding Ehud and Eldad?
It’s sickening. It’s shameful. I just want to go hide. The GFers are loving this! And can you blame them?

BanishThem on July 18, 2008 at 7:28 am

How different things would be if we had simply put a bullet into Yasser Arafat as soon as he appeared on the radar all those years ago…..

guitarguy on July 18, 2008 at 12:03 pm

Kuntar looks like that cockroach from outer space that was the main culprit in the first Men In Black movie.

TheOmegaMan on July 18, 2008 at 2:41 pm

Please spare me a few of you that commented: “well we don’t have enough info that they were tortured”. Is that all you can come up with for your first comment on such a horrible subject? Out of all the comments you could post, a few of you post that crap? I think your mind is a little on the weird side.
Ok, on topic, this release is disgusting. I feel for those parents, but letting those killers go I don’t understand in the big picture that it will help israel in any way…these evil men will just kill again and again and they’ll keep kidnapping, torturing, etc to get what they want since they know they’ll get it.
What is right is wrong and what is wrong is right….I guess goes the saying towards the end of days.

diaphanous on July 18, 2008 at 6:21 pm

My bad, it wasn’t a few who did.it was just one numbnut that posted that stupid comment about not having enough info on whether torture happened.

diaphanous on July 18, 2008 at 6:23 pm

Debbie,
I grew up reading about courageous Jewish heroes in the books of Leon Uris. And then read about real ones when Israeli commandos rescued the hostages at Entebbe. And the Israeli victories over combined Arab armies in 1948, 56, 67, and 74 are proof that Israel is peopled by MEN, real MEN (and real women!) and I have faith that they will rise above the despicable leaders they have now.
What will it take though I wonder to make them call for a Golda or a Moshe. How long will they allow faithless leaders to betray the best people (on par at least with Americans) on this earth. I do weep for them now and fear that someday we’ll be lead by people just like them.

robscottw on July 18, 2008 at 7:45 pm

This is SO simple. Just shoot the hezbo prisoners, and then the Israelis will have bodies to trade, too.

John Harper on July 20, 2008 at 1:11 am