Gilad Shalit returns to the bosom of his loving family in Israel, while hundreds of psychopathic killers and other assorted paramilitaries, terrorists and criminals are returned to the Palestinian territories and other Arab lands. I have no comment to make about the morality of such an asymmetrical prisoner swap, but what a trade it is.

Many talk of the swap as a propaganda victory for Hamas and other factions, but I can imagine Bibi Netanyahu chuckling away to himself in the background. Decades of occupation appear to have dulled the Palestinian collective psyche. That is unfortunate, for everyone concerned.