Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., September 10, 2007 Elul 27, 5767 | | Israel Time: 12:01 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Print Edition
Diplomacy
Defense Arts & Leisure Real Estate Jewish World National Advertising
Magazine Week's End Business Opinion Rosner's Domain Anglo File Books Travel
Noam Shalit speaking at a counter-terrorism conference in Herzliya on Sunday. (IDC Herzliya)
del.icio.us
Digg It!  new
Last update - 18:55 09/09/2007
Noam Shalit: Israel's deterrence mustn't rest on my son's back
By Avi Isaacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent and News Agencies

The father of kidnapped Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit on Sunday expressed his frustration over the state's inability to bring his son home, saying "don't give me fairy tales on the need to establish [Israeli] deterrence on the back of a single 19-year-old soldier."

On Saturday, the IDF seized a Hamas militant suspected of having been involved in Shalit's abduction near the Gaza border last summer.

Speaking at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism's seventh annual conference at the Inter-Disciplinary Center in Herzliya, Noam Shalit said called on the government to show "determination, consistency and creativity in efforts to secure my son's release."

Advertisement
According to Shalit, the families of the other two soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah militants shortly after Gilad was seized, and his own family, were deeply disappointed with the inability of Israel, "with all its authorities and grand institutions, to bring home the boys that were kidnapped during terrorist activity 14 months ago already."

Referring to last week's ceremony during which the IDF awarded medals and citations of bravery to soldiers who fought in the Second Lebanon War, Shalit said "last week we understood that 90 percent of the medals were awarded for bravery in extraction operations in the battle fields. Therefore, in Gilad's case, where there is no military option, Israel must utilize all other means."

Another speaker at the conference was the wife of Ehud Goldwasser, a reservist soldier who was kidnapped by Hezbollah near Israel's northern border last summer, together with fellow soldier Eldad Regev. She said that she rejects the kidnappers' various demands in exchange for information on her husband's health. "It is unacceptable to me to pay for a sign of life from the boys," she said.

Meanwhile, Israel Radio reported Sunday that the senior Hamas militant seized in an undercover IDF raid deep in southern Gaza on Saturday was involved in Sahlit's abduction.

Hamas said commandos dressed in the light blue fatigues of Hamas's paramilitary police Executive Force drove up to Mohawesh al-Qadi's car outside Rafah on Friday night, bundled him into their vehicle, and escaped.

Al-Qadi, a local Executive Force commander who also serves in the Hamas armed wing, was with his wife at the time. She was left behind and reported the incident to Hamas, spokesmen from the group reported.

Palestinians familiar with al-Qadi said that he was currently the spokesman for Hamas security forces in Gaza, but he had a long history of involvement with groups using tunnels to smuggle arms into the strip, and could have knowledge of those using tunnels to infiltrate Israel.

Shalit in a joint Palestinian raid, during which Hamas and other armed groups used a tunnel to cross under the Gaza border fence and attack an IDF position inside Israeli territory.
Bookmark to del.icio.us
Stops in wine country
Summer is the right time to visit the wine routes that have developed in Israel recently.
Suits, not stories
Italy's uber-designer has come up with a soft, but not surprising, line for winter.
<
  1.   Well.. 20:07  |  Lisen 08/09/07
  2.   Bravo, IDF 20:10  |  KUTW 08/09/07
  3.   See...Israeli willing to talk to Hamas after all 20:12  |  Kevin 08/09/07
  4.   BRAVO IDF 20:21  |  ALAN 08/09/07
  5.   Israeli Finesse - Cannot be Matched By Anyone 20:30  |  Eli 08/09/07
  6.   Intelligence : Hamas Mad, Now Justified to Go After IDF. 20:53  |  Kevin 08/09/07
  7.   #3. Kevin 20:54  |  Rolando 08/09/07
  8.   Kol Akavod IDF - To: 3-Kevin 21:01  |  elicha 08/09/07
  9.   Kol Hakovod IDF 21:03  |  Igor 08/09/07
  10.   Hey Kevin 21:16  |  andres 08/09/07
  11.   fantastic this is how we should communicate with hamas and all 21:22  |  ralph 08/09/07
  12.   Trade him for Shalit 21:25  |  Lynn 08/09/07
  13.   Next on the line 21:28  |  Lotec 08/09/07
  14.   The Hand of Jah 21:32  |  Lotec 08/09/07
  15.   Love to be a fly on the wall 21:33  |  Robert 08/09/07
  16.   May he confuse those who devise wicked plans in their hearts 21:35  |  Lotec 08/09/07
  17.   #3 21:40  |  Reuven 08/09/07
  18.   Elite Forces 21:46  |  Brod 08/09/07
  19.   Good - now trade him for Shalit 21:51  |  B`galil 08/09/07
  20.   Kevin $ 3 I pity you 21:57  |  Chanahs 08/09/07
  21.   Sayeret Matkal?? 21:58  |  Lotec 08/09/07
  22.   Now will start seeing Hamas shooting at Hamas 22:08  |  Lucifer 08/09/07
  23.   great mission!!! 22:11  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 08/09/07
  24.   Israel Has Every Right 22:13  |  Irene 08/09/07
  25.   Lynn 22:15  |  KUTW 08/09/07
  26.   Alan 22:17  |  KUTW 08/09/07
  27.   Chanahs 22:18  |  KUTW 08/09/07
  28.   REMINDER OF ENTEBBE!!! 22:23  |  MATTHEW 08/09/07
  29.   Kidnapping & Murder by the IDF 22:27  |  PAUL 08/09/07
  30.   #14 22:35  |  Robert 08/09/07
  31.   Irene #24 22:38  |  Veritas 08/09/07
  32.   Great israeli finesse!Another Palestinian teenager shot & killed 22:41  |  lakshmi 08/09/07
  33.   All great and wonderful, but was it really Israeli? 22:45  |  William 08/09/07
  34.   Pro-Israeli Extremist posts 22:50  |  PAUL 08/09/07
  35.   Great job IDF! Keep up the good work! 22:54  |  RA 08/09/07
  36.   LAKSHMI AND MAN EATING TIGERS 23:12  |  Brant 08/09/07
  37.   Perhaps a trade 23:17  |  Ron 08/09/07
  38.   C`mon Lakshmi 23:25  |  Ron 08/09/07
  39.   A trade 23:25  |  Adrian de Klerk 08/09/07
  40.   Perhaps Hamas 23:29  |  steve 08/09/07
  41.   No. 32 Lakshmi 23:36  |  steve 08/09/07
  42.   Al-Qadi 23:44  |  Mike 08/09/07
  43.   adrian de klerk 23:47  |  Connie 08/09/07
  44.   38Ron,you know when we`ll both stop posting in Haaretz? 23:53  |  lakshmi 08/09/07
  45.   34. PAUL: Should we cry for the terrorist the IDF caught? 23:53  |  KUTW 08/09/07
  46.   lakshmi and the taste of blood 23:55  |  Joe Sittizen 08/09/07
  47.   Red Crescent 00:05  |  ados 09/09/07
  48.   Proud of IDF !!! 00:06  |  Albert 09/09/07
  49.   41Steve, I believe it is greed and hubris! The 30 billion dollars 00:08  |  lakshmi 09/09/07
  50.   Kevin # 6 00:08  |  Albert 09/09/07
  51.   #34 Paul si Blatant stupid 00:15  |  Albert 09/09/07
  52.   Ashkanazi will rebuild IDF... IDF #1 in the world.. 00:18  |  Tom 09/09/07
  53.   Brave Mistarabim 00:40  |  Mart 09/09/07
  54.   LAKSMI AND HUBRIS 00:42  |  Brant 09/09/07
  55.   IDF THUGS & WAR CRIMINALS 00:46  |  PAUL 09/09/07
  56.   # 25 KUTW 01:00  |  Lynn 09/09/07
  57.   #52 The IDF has a way to go before it can say its professional.. 01:01  |  Don Camillo 09/09/07
  58.   lakshmi # 32 sometimes the shoe 01:02  |  Lynn 09/09/07
  59.   cipora kohn re great mission 01:02  |  realism 09/09/07
  60.   26 KUTW 01:03  |  alan 09/09/07
  61.   # 44 lakshmi and Res. 181 01:05  |  Lynn 09/09/07
  62.   #34 3 cheers for extremism ,get the show back on the road 01:08  |  victor hardman 09/09/07
  63.   Olmert prepares major surrender to the pals ,hence the action 01:16  |  Absolute Sweden 09/09/07
  64.   Lakshmi and The Tiger - I Have Posted To You Before And I Will 01:32  |  Eli 09/09/07
  65.   # 56 Not too bound in realism or thought 01:42  |  Lynn 09/09/07
  66.   # 34 Paul and the extremists 01:46  |  Lynn 09/09/07
  67.   Lakshmi and The Rise Of China, India and Russia 01:49  |  Eli 09/09/07
  68.   # 41 steve, what was wrong with the peace offer 01:49  |  Lynn 09/09/07
  69.   Paul # 29 01:55  |  ChanahS 09/09/07
  70.   Veritas # 31 01:57  |  ChanahS 09/09/07
  71.   Lakshmi # 32 01:58  |  ChanahS 09/09/07
  72.   Great Job IDF! 02:02  |  Matt 09/09/07
  73.   The Brilliance of Brant # 36 02:03  |  ChanahS 09/09/07
  74.   Paul @ 55 02:06  |  ChanahS 09/09/07
  75.   KUTW # 27 02:09  |  ChanahS 09/09/07
  76.   64 Eli & 61 Lynn, 64 Eli,I was talking about sick old man eating 02:19  |  lakshmi 09/09/07
  77.   Zionist terrorists. Have never changed their stripes! 02:24  |  Maureen Ann 09/09/07
  78.   Kevin in New Mexico 02:26  |  rich 09/09/07
  79.   #32..Lakshmi 02:35  |  Nemesis 09/09/07
  80.   #52..camillo 02:38  |  Nemesis 09/09/07
  81.   Paul SPECIAL FOR YOU! 02:42  |  Neil Golan 09/09/07