Israel: Joy and Anger Continue Over Shalit Deal  · Global Voices
Elizabeth Tsurkov

Gilad Shalit's return has been one of the biggest events in recent Israeli history. IDF soldier Gilad Shalit was released from Hamas captivity after being held for 1,941 days, in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.
The deal was supported by the majority of Israelis, as Shalom Boguslavsky explained in his blog Put Down the Scissors and Let's Talk About It [he]:
The news of Shalit's release was almost the only thing discussed in the Israeli twittersphere and blogosphere since the deal was announced. Supermodel Bar Refaeli reflected the popular mood with her tweet [he]:
Liron Teeny described the mood in the streets [he]:
Before returning to Israel, Shalit was forced to undergo an interview on Egyptian state television (Nile TV). Israelis on Twitter were furious about the interview, which was conducted in the presence of Hamas operatives and Egyptian intelligence. The translation of the interview from Hebrew misrepresented Shalit's words in Hebrew when he said he was not feeling well, and that he would only support the release of Palestinian prisoners if they do not return to terrorist activity. Some Israelis even opened a Facebook page about the Egyptian journalist who interviewed Shalit, titled Shahira Amin is a shame to journalism in response.
Musician Noy Alooshe (who was behind the “Zenga Zenga” remix) reflected the Israeli mood about the interview when he created this poster about Shahira Amin.
Following the interview, Shalit was flown to the Tel Nof military base where he finally met his parents. Prime Minister Netanyahu made sure to exploit the opportunity for a photo-op and a self-congratulatory speech and was harshly and humorously criticized for it by Israelis online.
Tamar described the mixed feelings about the way Shalit's return was handled [he]:
Others criticized the heavy price of the deal [he]:
Blogger Yossi Gurevitz expounded on his blog, Orwell's Friends [he]:
Blogger Haim Har Zahav, who served in the platoon with Udi Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, the soldiers whose kidnapping sparked the 2006 war with Hizbollah, wrote in his blog [he]:
It wouldn't be the Israeli Twittersphere without some sarcastic comments. Rotem Biton described the scene where Shalit, who was kidnapped before the launch of the iPhone, is introduced to Angry Birds on the chopper ride from Egypt: