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Originally Posted by California Tanker
I think part of the problem is that the last time two Israeli soldiers were captured by Hisbullah, they were executed and Israel traded some 500 prisoners for the return of their bodies. The quiet method didn't work last time, and they have no intention of seeing the same again. Ergo, why not try something a bit different? Trading didn't seem to work last time, some say it just enourages more.
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Well they're not trying something "a bit different", they are trying a very old tactic, one that has also failed many times in the past.
The difference between Northern Ireland and Israel is the Irish could see that giving up their claim on Northern Ireland would not result in wholesale disenfranchisement or persecution of Northern Irish Catholics. The British government had changed to a policy of operating in good faith for several years prior to the vote in Ireland.
The Palestinians have no such assurances. They negotiated a deal with Rabin only to see Rabin assassinated and his successor renege on the deal. They have seen Israel seize land and build settlements and call it self-defense, they have seen Israel bulldoze farmland and shoot 14-year-old girls and call it self-defense. They can see that Arabs with Israeli citizenship are treated like second-class citizens in their own country. They have no reason to trust Israel, so forsaking violence like the Irish did is not nearly as attractive to them.
Similarly, Israel knows from past and recent experience they cannot trust Hamas or Hizbollah. So from a national security standpoint it makes sense to try to rescue their soldiers and also eliminate the ability of Hamas and Hezbollah to attack them. Some of the operations they are doing now are probably with that aim, but as usual some of the military operations have more to do with making Israeli citizens feel good than with actual strategic objectives.