Israeli critics question lopsided prisoner swap

Olmert recently announced the soldiers were believed dead, but there was no proof until their remains were delivered to Israel in two black coffins Wednesday. During the past two years, securing Regev's and Goldwasser's release had become a national crusade involving bumper stickers, billboards, radio and TV spots and public prayers.

Family and friends outside the homes of the fallen soldiers burst into tears at the first television images of the black coffins.

"It was horrible to see it. I didn't want to, I asked them to turn off the TV," said Regev's father, Zvi, choking back tears. "We were always hoping that Udi (Ehud) and Eldad were alive and that they would come home and we would hug them."

Gerald Steinberg, chairman of the political science department at Bar Ilan University outside Tel Aviv, disagreed with the notion that Hezbollah came out ahead in both the war and the prisoner swap.

"Hezbollah paid a high price," he said. "After the soldiers were kidnapped, Israel went to war and inflicted a very high cost on Hezbollah. It would be irrational for Hezbollah to return to a similar tactic."

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