Who Dares Wins

I've just finished reading the Israeli newspapers' report of retired IDF general Yisrael Ziv's hand in the rescue of Ingrid Betancourt from 6 years' jungle captivity in the hands of FARC guerillas.

A modest man, now in private business as a global security consultant, it is a great shame he went into retirement.

It beggars belief that the army which 30 years ago rescued a planeload of Jewish hostages from 3,800 km away in darkest Africa on a week's planning, is unable after 2 years to rescue Gilad Shalit from its own backyard in Gaza; a tiny parcel of land in which the IDF can identify every backroom, alleyway and cellar.

The truth must be that, 30 years on, with all the gadgetry and pilotless drones at its disposal, the IDF is well capable of mounting a rescue. It's just that Mr. Olmert in his own words is 'tired of fighting and tired of winning'.

But most of all, he is worried about upsetting his 'peace partners' by daring to win.

With people like Yisrael Ziv in charge, scenes like this might soon be repeated for the Shalit family. And what an enormous shot-in-the-arm such a rescue would be for Israel right now!