Last update - 00:00 26/06/2007
Shalit's father: If Hamas wants talks, Israel must make deal
By Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent
Father of the abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit said Monday he was skeptical of Hamas' motives for releasing an audio tape containing a recorded message from his son the first sign of life since the terror organization kidnapped the soldier one year ago from an IDF post outside the Gaza Strip.
Addressing reporters from his home in Mitzpeh Hila in the Galilee, Noam Shalit said the tape appears to be authentic, although the content was "obviously dictated by his captors."
"We hope this is a sign that Hamas is genuinely interested in making progress on a deal, and not just a spin ... to divert attention back to Gaza," Shalit added.
Shalit said that if Hamas is genuinely interested in talks he expects Israel to take the necessary steps to make a deal. "It's been a year," he said. "I think that is long enough."
When asked whether he wanted to convey a message to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Noam Shalit replied: "I will not dispense advice for the government over the television."
Shalit nonetheless urged decision makers to "advance matters," provided the tape was indeed a signal from Hamas.
Shalit concluded by addressing his son, to tell him that the family was making efforts for his return. "I'm sure he knows this already," Shalit said.
Gilad Shalit was abducted precisely one year before the video was released on Monday, on June 25, 2006. Hamas' military wing, Iz al-Din al-Qassam and the Fatah-affiliated Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for the cross-border raid, along with the hitherto little-known terror group Army of Islam, which is affiliated with Al-Qaida. The Palestinian militants who seized Shalit from the Kerem Shalom outpost
outside the Strip killed two other IDF soldiers and wounded four.
Noam Shalit and his wife, Aviva, heard the tape over the phone, while they were on the train on their way back from a commemoration service for Pavel Slutzker, one of the soldiers killed in the attack on their son's outpost.
When they arrived home, they listened to the message many times, trying to determine whether it was their son's voice. They also consulted security officials for their opinion. Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi telephoned the Shalits, but could offer them no new information.
The media corps surrounded the family's house Monday, as they did following Shalit's abduction. "Look around, everything is the same. Same faces, same reporters. And Gilad is still missing," one local resident said, as he stood outside the Shalit residence.
Some neighbors and friends arrived at the scene wearing T-shirts reading: "Waiting for Gilad for 365 days now." Others walked around the reporters, criticizing the government's handling of the efforts for Shalit's return.
One of the reporters asked Aviva Shalit how she felt when she heard her son's voice in the message. "As any mother would feel after hearing her captive son's voice," she replied.
One of the few who can relate is Benny Regev, whose brother, Eldad, was abducted in another cross-border raid by Hezbollah, some three weeks after Shalit's kidnapping. Regev's abduction on July 12, 2006, from within Israel into Lebanon triggered the Second Lebanon War.
"If the tape is genuine, then it proves that Shalit is alive. That's happy news indeed," he said. "I hope we will receive a sign of life from Eldad and from Udi," Benny said, referring to Udi Goldwasser, who was abducted along with Regev. "There is no point in addressing the content of Shalit's message, as it is clear that his captors dictated it to him," Benny Regev added.