On June 25th, 2006, Gilad Shalit, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier, was captured and taken hostage by Hamas. The militants used tunnels to conduct a cross-border raid into an IDF post in Israeli territory where Shalit and three other soldiers were stationed. The militants killed the other two soldiers and seized Shalit, dragging him through underground channels into Gaza. Shalit was 19 years old at the time of his kidnapping. Amidst the rising tensions at the Israel-Gaza borders, Shalit’s unit was deployed to carry out a surveillance mission near the security fence of the southern Gaza Strip. It was during this mission that Shalit was captured; for the next five years, Shalit was kept in a one-room detention cell and denied communication with anyone besides his Hamas captors. When he was finally released, Shalit had extensive physical injuries and mental trauma from the prolonged isolation and abuse. During the five years of Shalit’s captivity, Jews in Israel and the diaspora carried the weight of his detainment, apprehensively waiting for a prisoner exchange that would bring Shalit home. This national apprehensiveness was expressed in public and private spheres of Israeli life. ‘Free Gilad Shalit’ campaign stickers were placed on Gaza-bound goods, and many families reserved a seat for Gilad at the Passover table as their ‘lost son’. When Shalit was returned, after enduring five years of psychological and physical torture in secret prisons, parties and parades erupted on the streets of every city across the country. Even cities in the diaspora held celebrations and speeches commemorating Shalit’s return home. The celebration of Shalit’s release was not dampened by the fact that it came as part of a controversial prisoner exchange. For his liberation, one single Israeli soldier, Israel released 1,000 Palestinian militants and terrorists. Among the released was Aziz Salha, one of the perpetrators of the Ramallah Lynching in 2000.