Today is also a bad day.
A few days ago, my fiance was reading the list of the prisoners to be released in exchange for Gilad Shalit. He read through life sentence, after life sentence, after life sentence--killers who would be set free by this deal. I read the papers, and the stories of the families of their victims, begging for the deal not to go through, begging to be able to live, knowing that those who killed their loved ones would be locked up forever.
And I said no, the price is too high, we can't do this.
I woke up this morning, turned on my and my fiance's computers, and begged the internet to work (we don't have a tv). I watched the first images come in of Gilad, and tears fell down my cheeks. He's ok, I thought to myself, and was riveted, taking a taxi to a friend's to watch. In the taxi, the driver had live coverage on full blast, and we exchanged only the barest of words. He got a call--hung up quickly--no one was not listening to this extraordinary series of events.
And I saw the pictures of him, hugging his family, who have been so graceful and valiant this whole time. I heard Karnit Goldwasser, Udi Goldwasser's widow, talk about how today, her tears have turned from sorrow to joy. Mine, too. I listened to Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, who I normally cannot stand, and the tears ran down my cheeks as his words struck a chord.
He talked about the pain of those who have lost family members to terror. He said he didn't know if he made the right move, but that we bring our guys home. He talked about returning Gilad to Noam and Aviva, his parents.
And in that moment, I knew I was on the right side. Watching this kid hug his father, salute in his uniform after five long years in captivity, I was so much more moved than I expected. I may not know Gilad, but God willing, my children will fight in this army. I know lots of other soldiers. And the idea that we bring them home is so powerful, so strong. So Israeli.
We've put a price on soldiers lives with this trade, but it's not news to anyone that they'd like to capture our guys, or that we value them. And we've made it crystal clear today. We bring our soldiers home.
I don't know what tomorrow will bring. I hope that if any of the killers commits any crime, we go after them hard and fierce. But I believe in this army, and this state. And maybe, just maybe, today, I got a reason why.
Today was a good day, and a bad day, and a hard day. But maybe, just maybe, it was mostly good.
