Waiting for the hostages to come back, a few at a time, I kept thinking today about the story I heard about Stalin.  That when he first came to power he brought in all his generals and leaders and said he was going to teach them how to lead.  Then he asked that a chicken be brought in, and he took the chicken and began plucking its feathers , one at a time.  The chicken squawked and made terrible sounds of pain, but he continued until he had finished plucking all the feathers.   Then he put the chicken down and it ran away.  

Then he took a handful of corn from his pocket and put it at his feet, and the chicken came running back to Stalin and ate every piece of corn.  

“That,” he said, “Is how you become a leader.”

I feel that Israel has become like the chicken with the hostages.  We are so grateful, we forget everything else.  We’ve certainly forgotten that we have to begin to understand our relationships with our Arab neighbors, that we have to propose a plan for rebuilding Gaza, that we have to lead the way in creating a two state solution.

I have been feeling all day like a plucked chicken.