Herman Cain, a Republican candidate in the United States presidential elections discussed newly released IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. In an interview with CNN, Cain responded that in a similar circumstance involving American prisoners being exchanged he "could see myself authorizing that kind of transfer."
Later he clarified the remarks by stating "You would have to consider the entire situation. But let me say this first: I would have a policy that we do not negotiate with terrorists. We have to lay that principle down first. Now, then you have to look at each individual situation and consider all the facts. The point that I made about this particular situation is that I'm sure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to consider a lot of things before he made that. So on the surface, I don't think we can say he did the right thing or not. A responsible decision-maker would have considered everything."