Olmert aide, Shin Bet chief to replace ousted Gaza truce mediator

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday suspended Amos Gilad as Israel's chief negotiator for a Gaza Strip truce - a move that some officials fear will not only hinder prospects of obtaining an agreement, but also damage Israel's relationship with Egypt and scuttle efforts to conclude a deal for the return of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.

The Egyptian-brokered talks will now be conducted by a triumvirate, Olmert said, consisting of his diplomatic adviser Shalom Turgeman, Shin Bet security service chief Yuval Diskin and Ofer Dekel, who has been handling the talks on Shalit.

Olmert's decision to suspend Gilad stemmed from an article in Maariv last week in which Gilad, who heads the Defense Ministry's diplomatic-security bureau, lashed out viciously at the prime minister's conduct in both the truce talks and the Shalit deal. Inter alia, he said that Olmert's decision to make Shalit's release a precondition for a cease-fire was an insult to Egypt, and therefore undermined national security.

According to sources in Olmert's office, Gilad then refused to apologize for his remarks, leaving the premier with no option but to dismiss him. Olmert also filed a formal complaint against him with the Civil Service Commission on Sunday.

The sources dismissed the claim that Gilad's suspension would damage Israel's relations with Egypt. "There's been peace with Egypt for 30 years, and it is not based on any one man," said one.

They also denied that it would harm the Shalit negotiations.

"Amos Gilad never dealt with, and was not authorized to deal with, a deal for the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit," Olmert's bureau said in a statement, noting that these had always been handled by Dekel. "Even after Amos Gilad's suspension, ongoing talks continue to be conducted, including these very days, with regard to the deal to free Shalit."

Palestinian sources confirmed this, saying that not only are talks ongoing, but they have even made significant progress in the last few days, making conclusion of a deal before Olmert leaves office look realistic.

Dekel, they said, has been abroad working on a deal for Shalit.

Sources in Defense Minister Ehud Barak's bureau, however, insisted that the suspension "harms the state."

"It is the prime minister's right not to rely on the ability and expertise of Amos Gilad, but it is Israel that will suffer the consequences," said one.

Other defense officials charged that Gilad's suspension would worsen the crisis in relations with Egypt.

Hamas responded to Gilad's suspension by accusing Israel of acting in bad faith and urged Egypt to respond by opening its own border with Gaza.

"This shows that the Zionist occupation government has no intention of reaching an agreement on the calm or of concluding a prisoner swap," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.

Shalit's father Noam declined to comment on Gilad's suspension, as did an organization lobbying for Shalit's release, Mateh Hamaavak L'maan Gilad Shalit. One member of that group noted that the Shalit family had never seen Amos Gilad or any other bureaucrat as the key person in concluding a deal, but rather Olmert himself.

But another organization, Friends of Gilad Shalit, published a statement terming it, "regrettable and worrisome that while an Israeli soldier is rotting in captivity, our leaders are preoccupied with ego games. Had they invested half as much effort in securing Gilad's release as they did in internal politics, he would have been home long ago."

Gilad himself declined to be interviewed. However, sources close to him said he was deeply wounded by Olmert's decision.

Olmert's associates charged that Barak was ultimately responsible for the suspension.

"Gilad was a victim of Ehud Barak's improper behavior," said one. "We have nothing against him [Gilad], and the prime minister always respected him and spoke warmly about him. And then, suddenly, this outburst came out of nowhere. Our anger was at Ehud Barak's behavior with regard to the truce, and Amos Gilad fell victim to this. Perhaps Barak convinced Amos Gilad that this was something personal against him."

Gilad's Defense Ministry job, which includes regular contact with Egypt, will not be affected by the decision.

Even Gilad's bitterest opponents freely acknowledge his considerable abilities. He is also widely respected overseas: European foreign and defense ministers and American secretaries of defense and state usually make time to meet with Gilad, 55, whenever they visit Israel. Yet at the same time, even some of his biggest fans admit that he is "insufferable."

His career in the defense establishment spans almost 40 years, most of them in Military Intelligence, and he played a leading role in the truce with Hamas that began in June 2008 but collapsed late last year, leading to last month's military operation in Gaza.

In the recent talks with Egypt, however, neither the Prime Minister's Office nor the Foreign Ministry were impressed with what he achieved, and they frequently accused him of conducting an independent foreign policy.

	Amos Gilad, director of the Defense Ministry's political-security bureau.
	Photo by: Tess Scheflan