IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz continues to express optimism over ongoing efforts to locate and release the captive youths. Gantz visits with troops in the field and makes an occasional media statement to keep up the morale and brief the media. However it is reported that he and other experts are aware that with each passing day the chances of the boys being alive diminishes to some degree. Some feel the IDF commander remains optimistic but is simply acting responsibly as he tries to prepare the nation for the possibility of the worst case scenario chas v’sholom.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon announced Operation Brothers Return will continue until the three bnei yeshivos are found. However, the Security Cabinet has accepted an IDF recommendation to curtail arrests of Hamas and other suspected terrorists, but Ya’alon and Gantz stress this will not in any way diminish the effort to locate the captive and bring them home. The minister added “we need patience but the boys will be found”.

Names for Tehillim:

1. Yaakov Naftali ben Rachel Devorah

2. Gilad Michael ben Bat Galim

3. Eyal ben Iris Teshurah

WATCH: Hundreds are mispallel at the tziyun of Yonasan ben Uziel in Amuka:

WATCH: Naftali’s mom: We already see results of the tefilos

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)