Last update - 00:00 23/06/2007
Noam Shalit to Olmert: Secure my son's freedom or resign
By Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service
The father of captured Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit on Sunday called for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to secure his son's release or step down.
"It's the test of a leader," said Noam Shalit said at a rally at the Knesset to mark one year since his son Gilad's abduction by militants in the Gaza Strip. "If you do not know what to do, give your portfolio to someone who can bring about results immediately."
Zvi Regev, the father of one of two IDF reservists kidnapped in July by Hezbollah urged the government Sunday "to win [the soldiers'] release even at a high price - and at any price."
Around 200 residents of Mitzpeh Hila, the moshav in the western Galilee where Gilad Shalit was raised, took part in the ceremony. Only two members of Knesset attended the event.
Noam Shalit criticized the government for failing to win his son's release.
"If an entire country, its leaders... the sophisticated systems it has, satellites, drones, can't bring back a soldier from captivity after an entire year, and can't even get firm information about his condition and health, then we should all be worried," Shalit said.
Shalit also urged Israel's leaders to do anything necessary to free his son, including releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Three weeks after Shalit's capture, Hezbollah guerrillas crossed Israel's border with Lebanon, ambushed an IDF patrol, killed three soldiers and kidnapped Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. The incident ignited the 34-day Second Lebanon War between Israel and Hezbollah, but the fighting ended with no sign of the soldiers.
"It is possible to bring Gilad, Udi and Eldad home, and immediately," Zvi Regev told the crowd.
Little is known about efforts to free Regev and Goldwasser, which are believed to be under way through third-party negotiators. Among Hezbollah's demands is the release of four Lebanese prisoners held by Israel.
Miki Goldwasser, mother of Ehud Goldwasser expressed her outrage at the sparse turnout.
"This is the second ceremony to which we invited all MKs and ministers, and in which they did not participate," she said. "There is no excuse for this."
Olmert addressed the one-year anniversary of Shalit's abduction at the cabinet meeting Sunday, saying that the government had worked ceaselessly to secure the soldiers' return.
"Not one day has passed since then that we have not tried and invested all that we could in order to bring him home. I know what Gilad's parents Noam and Aviva and all of his family is going through. We are and will continue to explore all means to bring him home."
Funding for foreign trips
The Knesset is set to discuss this week a bill that would commit the state to funding trips abroad organized by the relatives of the abducted soldiers.
The family members of abducted soldiers often travel to gather support, raise awareness and increase international pressure for the release of their loved ones.
Until now, they have had to pay for such trips out of their own pockets and with donations.
MK Israel Hasson (Yisrael Beitenu) submitted the proposal that would make the Defense Ministry responsible for budgeting these efforts. "The state owes this to the families," Hasson said.
Karnit Goldwasser, the wife of Ehud Goldwasser, said Sunday that the state does not currently fund trips in which the soldiers' relatives meet with world leaders.
Goldwasser said she paid for a journey to meet UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, despite the existence of a non-profit organization that assists in funding these trips.
Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni have in the past promised to ensure state funding but as yet nothing has been done to finalize the matter, Goldwasser said.
She added that there needs to be an appropriate bureaucratic solution that will grant immediate funding for travel in the event of sudden opportunities that open up for the soldiers' families.