“We have a paramount obligation to bring Gilad Shalit home,” said GOC of the Southern Command, Major General Yoav Gallant, in an interview this morning with Razi Barkai on the Army Radio program “What’s Burning”. “We are doing all that is necessary and I am convinced that we will be successful. I think that Israel has proved in the past that it knows to hit those who endanger the country, and I refer to the operations in the Gaza Strip in the past years,” he added. During the interview the GOC touched on the strength of terror organizations and said: “Hamas has leapt foreword in the past years. I propose that we don’t slight the enemy, but from the other side it is valuable that they know we have the upper hand, that we are better and stronger and in addition we are getting results.”

Regarding Special Forces’ operations in the Gaza Strip that stirred public interest after a soldier from an elite unit was wounded last week, he remarked: “All of the IDF’s special units operate in the Gaza Strip in different quantities and according to the type of mission. In the end, the operations are preformed in a precise and proficient manner, and in conjunction with the ISA. The ISA works extraordinarily in every area of the Southern Command – particularly in the Gaza Strip. And I think that those operations are censored for security’s sake.”

“I can happily testify that the motivation to enlist is high in all our units,” he said in praise of IDF soldiers and commanders. “In the Golani Unit for instance there are four volunteers for every available position and that is after an intense period of fighting. In my opinion, this confirms that the public and soldiers are more advanced than of all the academics – they understand that we are struggling for our existence and it is worth it for them to be where we need them.”