History cannot be rewritten, but what if Gilad Shalit had not been kidnapped 20 years ago?
A little over two decades ago, an event took place whose repercussions are felt today — in Israel, in the Middle East, and globally. At 6:40 a.m. on June 25, 2006 (Israel time), the Israel Defense Forces was informed that one of its soldiers, Gilad Shalit, had been kidnapped by Hamas and other terror groups into the Gaza Strip.
Travel back in time for a minute — especially all of the DSA supporters who are vehemently anti-Israel without knowing much about Israel.
In the summer of 2006, Israel was not at war in Gaza, and, at least as significant, Gaza was not at war with Israel. It was one year after Israel’s unilateral withdrawal of its settlements from the Gaza Strip. There were no Israelis in Gaza. There was no Israeli blockade of Gaza.
Fatah, the political arm of the PLO, ruled Gaza, at the time of Shalit’s kidnapping. No one — not even the PLO — denied Hamas’ status as a terror group.
His kidnapping spurred a reaction from the Jewish community internationally. Protests were held across the world, often at local offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations.
Shalit’s father campaigned tirelessly for his son’s release, the paradigm of a loving and committed father.
In the summer of 2006 and for 15 years afterward, Gilad Shalit was not allowed to communicate with his family. Hamas, which did not yet rule Gaza, began building tunnels. Hamas, despite its insistence on a division between its “military” (i.e. terrorist) and “political” branches, had no interest in following international law, including laws of engagement.
Hostage-taking, tunnels, lawbreaking, began with the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit 20 years ago this summer. Now, nearly three years after Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, all of this sounds very familiar. It can be argued that the Ben-Gvirs and Smotriches of the world are the result of that unilateral withdrawal — undertaken in hopes of peace between Gazans and Israel —and the chaos and pain that the withdrawal caused Israeli society.
Not least, the lopsided deal that finally secured Gilad Shalit’s release in 2011 — one freed Israeli for 1,027 freed, convicted Palestinian prisoners (i.e. terrorists). The deal compounded Israel’s cynicism and hostility toward the rulers of Gaza — by now, not the PLO, but Hamas (it took over in 2007). The deal included the future mastermind behind Oct. 7.
The repercussions of Shalit’s kidnapping are felt not only by Israel but by Palestinians and the Middle East more broadly. History cannot be rewritten . . . but what if . . .
What if one of the many organizations such as the ICRC who issued a multitude of statements condemning Shalit kidnapping actually stayed on the case, day in day out, finding a way, anyway, to free Shalit?
What if the Red Cross had actually done its job?
What if the UN had raised the Shalit kidnapping to the level of an international outrage? What if the UN — across the board — had delegitimated kidnapping?
Would there have been mass hostage-taking by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023? Would there have been no mass destruction of Gaza?
There is a political camp who contend that Israel is committed genocide in Gaza. Does this camp know about Gilad Shalit? Does it know about his five-year detention, incommunicado? Does it cite international law against Hamas?
Such questions must be asked by anyone interviewing candidates like Melat Kiros.
We have learned the answers over the past three years as organizations like the UN and politicians like Rashida Tlaib deny that Hamas committed sexual assault against Oct. 7 victims. Law and logic and compassion are invoked for one side only.
As noted by Dr. Howard Israel, Robert Kiyosaki said that the best way to predict the future is to study the past.
What Hamas did on Oct. 7 was predictable, in part because of the international indifference to the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit, in part because people do not take horrible threats seriously. Hamas continues to say that if it could do Oct. 7 all over again, it would. This is not hyperbole. Not an an empty threat. The kidnapping and five-year imprisonment of Gilat Shalit should have told everyone that Hamas has told us who they are.
The scariest part is that many political figures do not care, or, worse, apologize for it, explain it away, or support it outright. The summer of 2006 was a harbinger.
© IJN 2026
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