The murders of St.-Sgt. Oron Shaul on the first day of Operation Protective Edge and of Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin Friday, and the subsequent theft of their bodies, brings the number of Arab kidnappings since the May 24, 2000 pullout from Lebanon to eight.
Since Prime Minister Ehud Barak withdrew IDF troops from the South Lebanon Security Zone – a move undertaken to satisfy political demands inside the Labor Party, but undertaken against the clear advice of IDF officials – terror groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas have moved towards abduction IDF soldiers as a key tactic to gain leverage over Israeli society and government.
A list of terrorist kidnappings since the pullout from Lebanon is as follows:
October 3, 2000 – Col. Elhanan Tannenbaum kidnapped in Lebanon by Hezbollah operatives.
Released August 3, 2004 in exchange for 435 Lebanese prisoners held by Israel, including Hezbollah officials Mustafa Dirani and Abdel Karim Obeid. (1034 days in captivity).
October 7, 2000 – Adi Avitan, Binyamin Avraham, Omar Souad killed in unprovoked cross-border raid by Hezbollah terrorists, bodies snatched and transported to Lebanon. Bodies returned to Israel January 29, 2004 in exchange for 430 live terrorists (1210 days in c29aptivity).
June 25, 2006 – Cpl. Gilad Shalit wounded in unprovoked cross-border attack by Hamas terrorists, dragged through infiltration tunnel to Gaza Strip. Released on October 18, 2001 in exchange for 1,025 terrorists (1942 days in captivity)
July 12, 2006 – Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev killed in unprovoked cross-border raid by Hezbollah terrorists, bodies snatched and transported to Lebanon. Bodies returned to Israel January 29, 2008 in exchange for four notorious Arab terrorists and the remains of 199 Lebanese and Palestinians killed in the 2006 Second Lebanon War. (1210 days in captivity)
Breakdown:
In the 5184 days since Lebanon withdrawal, Israeli society has spent a grand total of 3342 days – nearly two-thirds of the time – in “hostage” mode.
Taken individually, Israelis have been held captive (dead or alive) by Arab terrorists for 8,135 days since the IDF pulled out of the South Lebanon Security Zone.