Noam Shalit: We won't stop our fight, we'll just change tactics

Noam Shalit, father of kidnapped Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, on Saturday said that his family was not stopping its fight for Gilad's release but was prepared to change tactics as the term of President Ehud Olmert was nearing its end.

Gilad Shalit was kidnapped by militants in Gaza in a cross-border raid in June 2006. Hamas, the rulers of Gaza, have demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons in exchange for the soldier's freedom. The Shalit family has recently moved into a protest tent across from Olmert's Jerusalem residence in efforts to pressure the outgoing prime minister to secure Gilad's release before the end of his term.

Noam Shalit told Haaretz moments before a rally to mark 1,000 days since his son was taken captive, that the family's decision was unrelated to what was being said by politicians.

In a speech before hundreds of well-wishers at the family's protest tent, Shalit Olmert still has two weeks in which to act to secure the release of his son, after President Shimon Peres granted Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu 14 additional days to form a coalition, leaving Olmert in office for those two weeks.

"You and the authorities have an extra two weeks to act with decisiveness and productivity, and to activate everything at the disposal of the State of Israel to rescue Gilad before it is too late," Shalit said.

"Don't establish a council of learned professors and don't give us explanations why it is impossible," Shalit said. "You had almost three years to do this while we weren't sitting here in this tent. Gilad does not need to bear Israel's security and strategic problems alone on his narrow shoulders, although he has already been doing that for 1000 days," Shalit said.

Earlier Saturday, Azzam Azzam, an Israeli Druze textile worker from the town of Maghar who spent eight years in an Egyptian prison for allegedly spying for Israel, and Member of Knesset Ayoob Kara (Likud), who headed the efforts to free him, visited the Shalit family's tent.

Azzam and Kara told Noam and Aviva Shalit, Gilad's mother, that their public protest is helping their cause by ensuring it is not forgotten.

The family ate their final meal at the tent to welcome the Jewish Sabbath on Friday night before packing up their belongings and preparing to return to their home in the Galilee town of Mitzpeh Hila.

What was widely believed to be the Olmert government's last-ditch attempt to win the soldier's release before handing over power to a rightist coalition led by Netanyahu failed this week, as talks with Hamas broke down in Cairo. Israel and the Islamic group failed to reach agreement on the identity of the prisoners Hamas seeks in exchange for Shalit.

In recent days, the Shalit family has expressed concern that the change in government will reduce the chances of the soldier's return home.

Zvi Shalit, Gilad's grandfather, told Haaretz on Thursday that he no longer thinks in terms of Gilad's release, but only of his rescue.

"It's been very difficult since Gilad was captured, but there is no doubt the sadness has grown worse in the past few days," says the Israel Police retiree, who lives in the Haifa suburb of Kiryat Ata.

"We pinned our hopes and expectations on the prime minister's envoys going to Cairo for talks, and everyone expected them to come home with an agreement, but unfortunately that didn't happen."

Shalit knows that Hamas is demanding a high price, and that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert set Israel's "red lines," but he says the most important principle at stake is the Israel Defense Forces' ethical code.

"I won't get into the issue of the 'cost' [of a prisoner exchange], or whom we should release. But I know the IDF has an ethical code that calls for returning every captured soldier, and that wasn't done. I see this as a violation of our understanding of the IDF's values and ethical code," he says.

Shalit still believes Olmert is directly responsible for ensuring Gilad's safe return.

"Olmert is still a sitting prime minister by law, and he can make important decisions that would end this nightmare," he says, adding that he expects the current administration to work to free his grandson until its "last moment" in office.

Shalit is worried about his grandson's fate being handed to the new Netanyahu administration, which "doesn't see itself as responsible for the kidnapping. We're concerned the new government will have to learn about the issue all over again, and that will only waste precious time."

"The precedent of Ron Arad only proves how much that fear is realistic," he says, referring to the Israeli airman who has been missing in action since he was shot down over Lebanon in 1986, and is now presumed dead.

While talks for a prisoner exchange remain stalled, Shalit said it is critical to receive a sign of life from his grandson.

"It's been almost a year since we got a real sign of life from Gilad. We waited for a response to the letter we sent him through French mediation, and despite the promise that we'd get a reply, we have yet to get anything," he said.

Shalit said his life has been turned upside down since his grandson's abduction: "I try to keep up my life as a retiree. I'm involved in programs and volunteering, but it's impossible to lead a normal life when your grandson is being held captive. I just hope this nightmare ends as soon as possible."