Shalit supporters: Mediator pick should have come sooner

Supporters of Gilad Shalit welcomed on Sunday the appointment of a new Israeli official to mediate the abducted Israeli soldier's release, but said the move should have come sooner.

"We welcome the appointment that has finally arrived, even if it comes much later than it should," The headquarters for Gilad Shalit said in a statement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that former senior Mossad operative Haggai Hadas will take over the negotiations with Hamas, replacing Ofer Dekel, who negotiated with Hamas under former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Shimshon Libman, an activist, said, "We hope that the new envoy will be wise enough to establish a relationship with the family and advance the release of Gilad Shalit, but we understand and know that the responsibility ultimately lies with one man, and that is the prime minister."

Shalit was kidnapped by Gaza militants in a cross border raid in June, 2006. Hamas has demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel in exchange for the Israeli soldier's freedom.

Noam and Aviva Shalit, Gilad's parents, left Israel for New York on Saturday to attend the annual Israel Day parade. The two are leading the march down the city's Fifth Avenue alongside New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Deputy Defense Minister Danny Ayalon.

A government statement said Hadas, 56, would work with security personnel and a ministerial committee in seeking Shalit's release. The negotiations will also involve the prime minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak as well as Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Vice Premier Moshe Ya'alon and minister without a portfolio Yossi Peled.

Hadas retired from the Mossad three years ago and then launched a Web-based technological startup company. He will be replacing Ofer Dekel, who spearheaded a prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon a year ago, in which Israel recovered the bodies of two Israeli soldiers whose 2006 capture had led to a month-long war.

Dekel, who resigned last month after Netanyahu took office, also headed a failed bid to negotiate a prisoner swap for Shalit through Egyptian mediation with Hamas.

The Prime Minister's Office issued a statement on Sunday, stating that Hadas is a well respected intelligence and operations man who held a senior position in the Mossad.

The Shalit family and the headquarters for Gilad Shalit are now preparing for the resumption of public efforts to advance the issue, and especially the resumption of efforts to keep the issue in the public agenda. Activists have announced that they will return to the protest tents set up across from the prime minister's residence. The tents have been abandoned recently and taken over by homeless people and others unrelated to Shalit.