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WASHINGTON -- Years ago, when I visited Pelican Bay State Prison on the northern coast of California, prison staff explained the rules. They gave me a stab vest and a handy piece of information: If I were taken hostage, prison officials would not negotiate for my release. I should know that before I entered the institution, they said.

Guess what? There has never been a hostage situation involving a visitor at the maximum-security facility, which houses violent and dangerous offenders and includes a Security Housing Unit "designed for inmates presenting serious management concerns."

Israel could learn a thing or two from the California policy.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirmed Monday there has not been an incident involving a visitor taken hostage at Pelican Bay State Prison. The "CDCR has a 'NO HOSTAGE' policy and all prison inmates, visitors, non-employees and employees shall be made aware of this."

I could not help but think about the Pelican Bay policy as I watched the Saturday release of Israeli hostages Or Levy, Eli Sharabi and Ohad Ben Ami, whom Hamas took prisoner on Oct. 7, 2023, when terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took some 240 hostages.

On the one hand, the deal freed three innocent Israeli men from a 16-month nightmare, further torment and possibly death. The one-time prisoners were emaciated and appeared to have been tortured when they were paraded onto a stage where they held their certificates of release.

On the other hand, the exchange that freed them also set loose 183 Palestinian prisoners -- and rewarded Hamas terrorists.

President Donald Trump remarked that the three "looked like Holocaust survivors."

The three Israeli men were forced to thank their armed and fully masked captors after 491 days of captivity.

Hostage Sharabi said that he hoped to see his wife, Lianne, and daughters Noiya and Yahel. He did not know that they were killed on Oct. 7.

Levy suspected his wife had died but did not know until his release.

The cruelty of the killings, the kidnappings and last week's hostage parade should have had the international community in high dudgeon toward Hamas and its enablers. Hamas apparently feels no pressure. The terrorist group announced Monday it would delay the release of additional hostages to Israel. The next exchange was scheduled for Saturday.

Monday night, Trump suggested Israel might consider ending its ceasefire with Hamas if all the remaining hostages aren't freed by noon Saturday.

While it is impossible not to applaud the Israelis' newfound freedom, it also may be time to consider a piece published last month by Israeli journalist Nadav Shragai in Israel Hayom. Shragai wrote, "It is crucial to remember that since 1985, Israel has released thousands of terrorists through various deals, gestures, and diplomatic frameworks. Shockingly, about half of them returned to terrorism and murdered Jews. Hundreds were killed or wounded by these released terrorists long before the Simchat Torah massacre on Oct. 7, 2023."

Shragai noted that Yahya Sinwar had been released by a 2011 deal that traded more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for one Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. Sinwar went on to become a mastermind of the Oct. 7 massacre before his death at the hands of the Israel Defense Forces in October.

"We must ask ourselves: Where will those released in the 2025 hostage deal lead us?" Shragai asked.

The agony of hostage families is inconceivable. Their push to free their relatives is righteous. But what if these asymmetrical deals enable even more terror, murder and mistreatment? When will Jerusalem draw a line in the sand?

Contact Review-Journal Washington columnist Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com. Follow @debrajsaunders on X.

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