Yesterday's successful prisoner swap between the Israelis and Hamas was not a humanitarian gesture by either side. The Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was captured by Hamas more than five years ago, and some of the hundreds of Palestinians have been in Israeli hands for much longer than that. Their release could have happened at any time, but the present moment suited both sides for their own political advantage.
Both Hamas and the Israelis (for very different reasons) have been put under pressure by both Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas going to the United Nations to seek recognition for the Palestinian state, and the new political dynamism in the region created by the events of the Arab Spring.
The Israelis are pumping out their lies with great fluency. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman produced the most flagrant nonsense after Shalit reached Israel yesterday when he said that "we hope to live in peace and reconciliation with our neighbours. We are ready for the immediate resumption of peace talks. The Palestinian side so far says that they are not willing to talk to us. We hope they change."
The Netanyahu government has been blatant in its refusal to talk to the Palestinians, and to frustrate any attempt to go back to the defined path to a two-state solution. It has continued to build and expand its colonies, and it has increased the roadblocks and routine harassment and persecution of the Palestinians.
Hamas has different issues to consider. It has agreed to reconciliation with Fatah, but it wants a reasonable measure of influence over events as they unfold. The release of Shalit allows them to enter a wider field of regional politics outside the narrow confines of Gaza, which may well suit them over the next 12 months.
