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On Shalit's 22nd birthday, gov't blamed for not doing enough By Jack Khoury, Amos Harel, Barak Ravid and Mijal Grinberg On Gilad Shalit's third birthday in captivity, Israel's political leaders seem to agree: Only flexibility on the Palestinian prisoner list will achieve progress in releasing the soldier held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But at a rally yesterday, Miki Goldwasser, mother of Ehud Goldwasser, one of two Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah in July 2006, said the leaders only care about their political survival. Advertisement Miki Goldwasser, whose son Ehud and comrade Eldad Regev were killed by Hezbollah during their abduction, was speaking at a ceremony at a Gaza-Israel border crossing to mark Shalit's 22nd birthday. She called on all mothers in Gaza with sons in Israeli jails to demand that Hamas secure their release as part of a swap for Shalit. "A mother does not send her son to die, she sends herself to die for her son," said Goldwasser. "Hamas promised it would free your children. The holiday of Ramadan is approaching. Don't you want your children to celebrate the holiday with you?" she said. Goldwasser urged the political leaders to unite for one goal - bringing Shalit home. Today, family members, friends and activists will hold events across the country; the main message will be gaining Shalit's release. 'A calm for Gilad' During a briefing with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni yesterday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said, "We agreed to a calm [with Hamas] for Gilad Shalit and we need to take advantage of this period to make progress in the negotiations." The briefing took place after Barak's visit on Tuesday to Egypt, where he spoke with President Hosni Mubarak. The cabinet is scheduled to meet on Sunday to discuss new criteria for the release of prisoners who were involved in the killing of Israelis, as part of an exchange deal with Hamas for the release of Shalit. Barak discussed with Olmert and Livni his meeting with Mubarak, as well as with with Omar Suleiman, Egypt's intelligence chief and main interlocutor in the indirect negotiations with Hamas on Shalit. Barak told his colleagues that Israel will have to take steps that will reflect its willingness to progress toward a prisoner exchange. Olmert favors Barak's view that Israel should be flexible in its assessment of Palestinian prisoners and the criteria for their release, while Livni has some reservations about easing the criteria. Barak said he has received promises from the Egyptian leadership that they will increase pressure on Hamas to resume the talks on Shalit. But Barak added that Egypt expects Israel to take action that will be conducive to making progress in talks. Security chiefs stressed during the briefing that Israel must use the calm with Hamas to make progress on a deal to free Shalit. Barak said Israel should bargain hard with Hamas to lower the number of prisoners with "blood on their hands." But he insisted, "The government and army have a moral obligation to bring Gilad home." Bookmark to del.icio.us   Three years in captivity Aviva Shalit accuses politicians of being too busy with their own affairs to free her son. Hezbollah in Venezuela Western gov'ts fear the group is establishing cells in the South American country.

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