Families of abducted IDF soldiers head to Europe to meet political leaders
Group to meet with Sarkozy, head of Portuguese parliament in bid to secure release of Shalit, Goldwasser and Regev.
By Yuval Azoulay and Jack KhouryRepresentatives of the families of the three Israel Defense Forces soldiers abducted last summer - Gilad Shalit, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser - are leaving Thursday to meet political leaders in France and Portugal.
The group will meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner for the first time since they took office, and are expected to ask them to work toward the release of the captive soldiers.
The delegation is also planning to meet with the head of the Portuguese parliament and the deputy president of the Red Cross office in Portugal.
As unresolved issues continue to swirl around Hezbollah's July 12 abduction of Regev and Goldwasser, attendance is high among the reservists in their battalion now undergoing training, nearly a year after the kidnapping.
A source in the battalion said attendance was particularly high in Regev and Goldwasser's unit.
The source said the battalion was applying lessons learned during the war, including the need for greater battalion-level coordination, mission preparation and independent access to intelligence.
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A demonstration in support of releasing the captured IDF soldiers in front of the European Commission headquarters in Brussels in November. (Reuters) |
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I wish them well. They are doing everything they can to help their kin. I don't know who in Europe can or will help them. Certainly not Sarkozy. What the families are going through might not be as bad as what Ehud Goldwasser and Elad Regev are suffering, but it has to be worse than anything I would wish to endure. I hope someone helps them.
Free the 10000 arabs in Israeli jails first.
Hizbollah and Hamas are ready to trade prisoners. The families are seeking pressure to be placed upon the Israeli leadership to stop quibbling and to get on with it.
Oh yeah, more of the usual zionist whining and wingeing. Exactly how much patience do you think that Europeans have for this continuing, boring and banal zionist routine? Would it not be better for these folks to petition their own government who, after all, are ultimately responsible for their own IDF MIAs? Well, perhaps they need elevator trips up and down the Eiffel Tower to limit their grief; or, alternatively, they need photos with famous people to put in their photo albums to show that they cared. At any rate, this international zionist begging routine is absolutely certain not to work. Why? Everyone is totally and completely sick of the zionist victimization shtik. Have you people no pride whatsoever?
YES HE IS GOING TO BE WOLRD PEACE MAKER!
Nasrallah said, quite clearly, 'Even if the whole Universe comes to Gaza, the Israeli soldiers will not be released by force, but rather, by negotiations.' He wasn't lying during the war, while Israel was. He probably wasn't lying when he said he wanted negotiations. Why is Israel leaving those soldiers in captivity, trying to maintain a tough image that was lost years ago, when they realize what is really required. The release of all Arab prisoners will result in the release of all Israeli prisoners and the end of hostage taking. Both sides need to stop taking prisoners. Just release all the prisoners, and in the future, fight to the death, like you should have in the first place.