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IDF chief of staff: Freeing Gilad Shalit is always on the agenda
By Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff and Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondents
Tags: Gilad shalit, elections 

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi on Friday said that the return of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit is on Israel's agenda every day.

Ashkenazi made his comments during a meeting with Bedouin and Druze leaders to mark the Eid al-Adha holiday.

"Vast resources are being invested in this matter," said Ashkenazi. "I am hopeful that we will succeed in returning Gilad home to his family as quickly as possible."
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The chief of staff's remarks came in the wake of controversial comments made Thursday by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who said that it isn't possible to bring every IDF soldier home.

Livni on Friday clarified her remarks, saying she meant that freeing Gilad Shalit was not a question of political will.

"It sounded as if the question of freeing Gilad Shalit depends on whether we want to [do so] or not. Absolutely not... I want to clarify that the question is whether it is possible or not," said Livni, speaking to Israel Radio.

The foreign minister, who is also the Kadima chairwoman, insisted that she wants every Israel Defense Forces soldier to return home.

In the radio interview Friday, she added: "I will never conduct negotiations for the release of Gilad in the media, and I refused to put him on the political map. We're all responsible for the fact that he's in captivity and we're all responsible for bringing him back."

Livni's comments Thursday, made at Tel Aviv's Tichon Hadash high school in response to a student's question, drew fire from politicians and activists for the IDF soldier, who was abducted in June 2006 by Gaza militants in a cross-border raid.

On Friday, demonstrators rallied outside her Tel Aviv home to protest the remarks. Livni, a prime ministerial candidate, told Israel Radio that she had spoken with them and explained her comments.

The Tel Aviv student on Thursday had asked why soldiers should risk their lives for the state given the government's failure to bring back Shalit.

"If you think that I could free Gilad Shalit right now, or the government could, but doesn't want to, that isn't true," said Livni in response.

"The government must always be responsible for the soldiers it sends out. We all wish there would be no casualties, but some of the willingness to fight is because we have no other choice. It is not always possible to bring everyone home."

"Trust us - we want Gilad back, and we're working on it," she added. "To me, it's very grave that there's a feeling among the public that the government could bring Gilad back but doesn't want to. That feeling is not correct."

In her interview Friday, the foreign minister also addressed comments she made on Thursday in which she claimed that a Palestinian state would be the solution for Arab Israelis.

"In order to ensure the status of Israel as a Jewish and democratic country, I am willing to give up on part of the historic Land of Israel... But national demands are something else altogether," Livni said Friday.

However, Livni clarified that at no point had she been calling to transfer Israeli Arabs. "I will fight for the rights of every citizen in the country," she stated.


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