This shift has occurred over several decades. But one wonders why Prime Minister Netanyahu appears to be willing to release terrorists the Olmert government would not free.
In the foreword to the book comprising the letters of Yoni Netanyahu – his older brother who was killed leading the Entebbe raid – Prime Minister Netanyahu wrote the following:
The death of a brother cut down in his prime is traumatic in every way; it changed my life and directed it to its present course. But the impact of a loss of a brother is a distant second to the greatest agony of all, the death of a son. Over the years, as I have visited agonizing parents who have lost their children in battle or to bouts of savage terrorism, I have grieved for them as I grieved for my parents.
Surely, Prime Minister Netanyahu nobly wants to save Noam and Aviva Shalit from the agony suffered by his own parents. Reasonable concessions to this end would be a necessary evil. But securing the release of Gilad Shalit at the reported price, may, God forbid, result in the greatest agony to many more parents in Israel.