Peres: Israel should 'pay any price' for Gilad Shalit
Fatah strongman says negotiations for Shalit's release stalled due to internal Hamas row.
By Haaretz Service Tags: Gilad Shalit Hamas Shimon Peres Israel newsPresident Shimon Peres said Sunday that Israel should pay any price for the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, Army Radio reported.
"We must continue to act and do everything we can, pay any price, for Gilad's release," Peres told Army Radio following his meeting with Shas' Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.
Peres said that Israel was still waiting to hear Hamas' response to the most recent offer to secure an exchange deal for the release of the abducted IDF soldier.
Shalit was abducted by Gaza militants in a cross-border raid in June 2006, and has been held in captivity since then. Hamas wants some 1,400 prisoners released from Israeli jails in return for handing over the soldier, including some responsible for deadly terror attacks in Israel.
Last week, Fatah strongman Mohammed Dahlan said negotiations for Shalit's release have been derailed due to internal disagreements between Hamas leaders.
In January this year, a senior Hamas official warned that despite unprecedented progress in the negotiations with the German mediator, the Islamist movement was unlikely to accept Israel's latest offer for Shalit.
The President also met with Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, during which he referred to the recent decision to relocate the emergency room at Ashkelon's main hospital due to the finding of a graveyard beneath the site which stirred a bout of criticism regarding the health ministry's decision.
Some critics accused Netanyahu of acquiescing to pressure from the ultra-Orthodox community, which was adamant about not building over the graveyard. The cost of moving the building site of the ER room is estimated at NIS 160 million.
"It is unfortunate that the issue was solved only after media sensation, and not because of common sense," Peres said.
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President Shimon Peres. |
| Photo by: (GPO) |
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free 11000 Palsin your prison, Mr. PR.
until Gaza is disarmed, its terorist leaders imprisoned and Shalit is freed.
The cowards of Hamas will never release Shalit because he is the only thing they have to be relevant. Without Shalit, they wouldn't be more than a pimple on the butt of a donkey.
I think they should be taken not literally, but as a reminder that yet another Passover without Gilad, is a Passover with one of our own in the most nightmarish captivity. It is in this context, that I see President Peres voicing another injection of awareness about what we should never erase from conscience. Thank you, Haaretz, for maintaing the image from Gilad Schalit's video with his emanciated face every day on your homepage. It is moral and nuanced.
SOMETIMES YOU ARE THE BEST .RARELY SOMETIMES BEST.PLEASE CALCULATE YOUR WORDS
israel will crumble..this man is the last vestige of credible Israelis..without him, your image will crumble.
do you think your spite animosity and bigotry will change our minds.or do you just use abuse to vent hatred.
... the result is a Mickey Mouse government !
...to "get off the dime," so to speak, if the reports are true that Netanyahu is now making a back-channel offer to exchange Yishai for Shalit.
He is not my president. He is a former terrorist (I have a long memory). You think only Nyettanyahu has the right to make a fool of himself? Price: How about Jerusalem? Going back to the partition boundary? Or is the Palestinians who will pay the price?
Peres Made an Incredulous Statement Extremely unhelpful statement by Peres will definitely encourage Hamas terrorists to persist in their demands. This statement reflects a certain kind of racism: a life of one Israeli soldier equals to that of one thousand Palestinians. People like Peres couldn't care less how the release of Shalit for any price will reflect on the well-being of thousands of Israeli families who lost their sons and daughters in fighting Palestinian terror. I am not against releasing thousands of Palestinians for the sake of peace if the government and people of Israel decide to do it, however, the lopsided exchanges are highly destructive and depressive. Nobody should be on such high position as President of Israel after 80. That includes Peres as well.
we keep him here for awhile longer
some of your actions in basra 1 a sergeant payne and his squad tortured iraqi teenagers.he made them scream.he called his efforts "a choir of payne"very droll. 2 again in basra your soldiers raped young iraqi boys on several occasions. there has never been a single case of rape of arabs by israeli soldiers. many thanks for your contribution brit.
goodmorninglondon we defend ourselves at the gates of israel.while you brits travel thousands of miles to kill muslims in iraq and afghanistan. who is the more wicked brit?
Any price??!!! Now there's a negotiating strategy....
The senile old man has spent his life serving Israel while you are enjoying the suuny peaceful weather in Australia, Why wouldn't you come over instead and give yourself up to Hamas. who suffer are Shalit's parant not you Who lost his freedom is Shalit not you And people who kill each other are both palestinian and jews, not because they can't live together as they used to do before but, because of those like you who are waching from faraway on the golden sandy beaches.
An interesting few posts which show the warped thinking of many supporters of Israeli oppression in the occupied Palestinian Territories.. For #3, a reminder that it was the Israeli Defence (LOL) Force that killed 1400 Palestinian a year ago, the bulk of them civilians, and continues to commit the war crime of collective punishment against the Gazans. For most of the rest of the world, it is with a heavy heart that I have to report that if anyone is wicked, it is the Israeli Government and armed forces.
Rule no 1 in negotiations: tell the adversary that no matter what he asks for, you will agree! How blessed we are that no old age home would accept such a dangerous person.
IAF & IDF.
Israel should pay any price if our octagenerian President would only agree to stop sticking his nose into what are complex political and humanitarian issues!! Perhaps someone should remind him of the constitutional limits of his position?
The above statement shows only weakness. Israel can be proud of its President. However, times have changed. The current conflict is not only with Hamas. Or with Syria and Hezbollah. The very survival of the Jewish State of Israel hinges on resilience,tough politics and decisions by military orientated commanders, not by unfounded remarks by elderly statesmen passed their prime. The reasons for keeping Gilad Shalit as a high value kidnap for ransom hostage are many. Israel, will never release hundreds of terrorists for one Israeli soldier. Israel invaded Gaza in Op.Cast Lead knowing quite well that Gilad Shalit could have well been executed in some public square. One can only contemplate the value of said soldier. One can also be sure, that should Hamas decide to execute him, the reaction and dire consequences that face the leadership in Hamas will be "priceless".! Good day from civilized Swiss Alps.
prime minister gordon brown hardly gave the issue a few minutes of his time.probably never thought about it.
Well that is one of many "any price" options. Perhaps we should offer Alaska too. Well done Mr. President.
The statement that Israel should 'pay any price' for Gilad Shalit is the most stupid statement in the world and is repeated ad nausea. Give them Tel Aviv? Tsipi Livni? F16s? Perhaps Haaretz should be given.
this will be a Win-Win - Hamas will get excited by swapping a solider for a President and Israel will sigh with relief that it finally got rid of he senile old man and giggle knowingly (they would have given Peres to Hamas without a swap). It is amazing how those who suffer no consequences can profit advise without thought. In Peres it is a history of of bad judgement - remember his friend, mentor and Partner for Peace (as he put it) - Yassar Arrafat. Oslo the post poorly thought out process, etc. You could have discounted him as being senile but it is hard when you note that he has a history of bad decisions, off the cuff stupid remarks and lack of connection between brain function and tongue wagging. Next he would suggest Turkey will broker the deal as an honest partner....
yet if we were to listen to you on the prisoner issue then the wicked gazans would stop digging tunnels and put all their effort in kidnapping our soldiers.thus would they win their war with us.
Would this anything include passing laws that Shabbat be kept in Israel? Or is the anything limited to freeing terrorists that mostly attacked religious Jews?
200 israelis were killed by suicide bombers released under sharon.