IDF soldier Gilad Shalit was abducted during a cross-border terror attack at Kerem Shalom 900 days ago, believed to be in Hamas-controlled Gaza since then. In truth, no one has seen him so it is really not certain exactly where he is being held.

Since he was taken captive, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his cabinet have released over 1,200 terrorists and ‘security prisoners’ from Israeli incarceration, including a deal that led to the release of arch terrorist Samir Kuntar in return for the bodies of soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.

Unwilling to heed the warnings, reflecting on the tragic circumstances that followed Ron Arad falling into enemy hands in 1986, the prime minister and his most senior ministers decided in Shalit’s case they will become firm, unwilling to exhibit weakness to Hamas, tenacious in their unwillingness to comply with demands to release hundreds of prisoners.

Now, some 30 months later and 1,200 plus terrorists later, Hamas has significantly increased its demands and a deafening silence is heard from the offices of the prime minister and defense minister, a silence that is pierced by the heartfelt cries of Noam and Aviva Shalit, his parents, who sent their son to the Bakum Induction Base in the belief that if anything were to ever happen to him, his country would stand behind him.

On Friday morning, another protest will be held demanding the Prime Minister Olmert bring Gilad home prior to leaving office. The participants, including Gilad’s family, friends and supporters, will stand outside the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem and in a pained cry, call on Olmert to “do the right thing” and ensure he brings the soldier home before stepping down from office.

In a painful and ironic twist, only days before the end of Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s “fragile Gaza ceasefire,” Barak approved transferring NIS 100 million to Gaza banks to prevent the collapse of the PA in Gaza. Earlier in the week, fuel for electric generators and trucks carrying supplies were permitted into Gaza. As for Gilad Shalit, Barak and Olmert rarely utter the name, opting to continue their decision-making process without linking demands to the release of Shalit.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)