When will our elected officials come out of their self imposed closet of denial and once and for all admit the Palestinians want EVERYTHING? Once our elected officials stand tall and say it we will demand the rest of the world face up to it. Then we will have strength to face the liars and white-washers who have perpetuated the myth that Palestinians wish to live in peace. Until then we remain a pawn to those whom the world seems to appease. Period.

All we've heard for two days is that a deal is all but imminent, and that the number and names of detainees was agreed on, and all that was left was the issue or expulsion. How come none of that was true, where did that information come from if both Hamas and Israel have with little exception always denied your reports?

My heart goes out to the Shalit family, whose hopes have been cruelly dashed yet again. But -- and I say this as gently as I can -- Israel held firm, and this time demanded that proof positive be submitted that Gilad Shalit is alive. Sadly, as most people have feared -- he is not. In all probability, he has been gone for a long time. But Israel would not, and could not, ever contemplate releasing the monsters that Hamas insisted be released. I suspect that Israel's counter would have been something along the lines of demanding proof that Shalit is alive. This, Hamas cannot do. Again, my heart goes out to the Shalit family. What else is there to say?

I'd executed all the ones on the list then Hamas and the PLO would get the right message.

If Israel and the Shalits must suffer this heartache, Hamas too must suffer. I no longer feel bad for any civilian in gaza. They voted for them, and we voted for Bibi...I beg Bibi to bring Hamas its day of reckoning and restore honor, peace and salvation to Israel, to us and to the Shalits. As a new oleh, I enlisted today at Lishkat Hagius. Thats for you Gilad...we will win this thing, we just need to hold on, and be sooo strong. I'll see you in hell click fool, and indrajaya.

The problem had nothing to do with "questionable reporting." Israel was prepared to make very major concessions. It was prepared to open the borders between Gaza and Israel for humanitarian aid at a minimum, and possibly for other purposes as well. Israel was prepared to release some very monstrous terrorists currently residing in Israel's prisons -- if it came to it, probably even the worst of them. Israel had but one quid pro quo. Hamas had to allow a third-party neutral (such as the International Red Cross) to have a face-to-face meeting with Gilad Shalit. At a minimum, Hamas had to provide the Israeli negotiators with a photograph of Gilad Shalit holding a current daily newspaper. The quid pro quo was an essential position, because Hamas had three times before reneged on its promise to release Gilad Shalit despite hundreds of Palestinian terrorists being released by Israel. The meaning of the collapse of the "negotiations" over the release of Shalit is clear. It happened because Hamas could not comply with Israel's quid pro quo. Why? Because Shalit is no longer alive, and Hamas was lying -- as usual. This time, they got caught in the lie. And now .... Israel can do the necessary in Gaza. Now, everyone knows the truth about the fate of Gilad Shalit. Now, Hamas' lies and dissembling and bad-faith (no-faith) negotiations are evident to all the world. Hamas has acted revoltingly. After this episode, no decent person in the world will care about their fate .... which will be swift, sudden and devastating. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of terrorist scum, now could it?

The will of Noam Shalit should not be taken into account here. He should not even be notified of the deals that are being done because it is only going to encourage him to try and put more preasure on the government to accept any demands made by Hamas if its going to get him his son. This deal will only encourage more kidnappings & put more killers back onto the street. Samir Kuntar was put back onto the street & he has said he is willing to kill again. Hundreds of the terrorists released during the oslo years have gone onto carry our more terror attacks and the mastermind of the Park Hotel bombing was one of them. As long as kidnapping of Israelis is profitable then they win continue to be taken. Hamas tunneld into an army base to take soilders .. they obviously believed that the rewards for taking just 1 soilder would be worth the risk they take to try and get them. After Gillad is back the Knesset must introduce a law saying we will no longer do deals with terrorists. That will allow the government to say to any future Noam Shalits we would love to do a deal but the law won't allow it. We also need to tell Hamas straight now no deal and if Olmert does cave into Hamas as he has shown a real talent for in the past then when he should do is double cross Hamas. The deal isn't about releasing every terrorist before Gilad returns to Israel alive or probably dead. Instead you give them the intial release and once Gilad is back in Israel we say to Hamas we changed our miind the rest of your people are going back to jail not to you so they can kill again. I really can't see even the UN telling Israel it has to stick by a promise it made to a terror group and I can't even see any reason for Noam Shalit to complain about cheating on Hamas.

Release all Palestinian women and children and elders and the rest of the 12,000 Palestinian in Israeli prisons. Then the soldier will be released. that is the fair thing.

We heard his voice in an audiotape and he wrote THREE letters.

And if by doing so,G'od forbid ,Gilad is killed,then Israel should kill all those in the demand for a swap. If 400 equals Gilad,kill 400;if 1000,kill 1000. We know very well that they just don't care about their own being killed,but if Israel bargains on the more "strategics"of them,maybe it gets something. It is indeed very difficult do deal with mad dogs,very difficult.

Where is the logic in this? Hamas has never been honest and forthright in this whole Shalit mess. It is a human life we are talking about, a person with a family, friends and colleagues. Since when does kidnapping constitute anything honorable and fair? 12,000 Pals for one Israeli? You need to take basic math!

The government must do all it can to secure the freedom of Gilad Shalit and all other Israeli soldiers who are MIA. Anything less is morally and ethically reprehensible. I hate the idea of releasing terrorists, but I would be prepared to release them to bring Gilad home. Keep in mind that there is nothing stopping us from assassinating the terrorists after they are free. After all, the Mossad is VERY good at what it does. We cannot abandon Gilad. Olmert - if you were the hostage, and Gilad was the PM, wouldn't you want him to secure your freedom?

you're crashing people's mozilla browsers, please get your act together.

What a joke - and half the people STILL vote for this party and the left! DELIBERATELY losing wars - you people are stupid sickos.

Only a complet closure of the borders of the Gaza Strip, no electricity, no fuel no food, no humanitarian and medical assistance, nothing, without any exception as long as needed, will bring to the liberation of Gilead Shalit. There should be no other option. More over the problem of kidnapped soldiers at : http://xrl.us/em3de

They only want convicted murderers to be released.

All during 2006, Mark. The audiotape was released then, and anyone can post-date letters for release (especially if a gun is being held to one's head). Get a grip. You think Hamas doesn't want the borders opened? You think they wouldn't mind seeing the release of their top 450 fave murderous terrorists released? They couldn't call the ante, Mark. That is the problem. In the past, it was never a problem. All of a sudden, it became Israel's quid pro quo, and that became a MAJOR problem. Give me one legitimate reason for Hamas' failure to conclude the deal other than the fact that Gilad Shalit is no longer alive.

Cut the crap. The (it's only) 11,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisoners are there for a reason: they have committed crimes, many of those crimes unspeakable ones that shock the conscience. Gilad Shalit -- who was a soldier on HIS side of the border -- was kidnapped by terrorists. There is no comparison. Besides, Shalit is dead. We learned that today. I hope each and every one of those 11,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails rot and die, and go to hell, where they belong.

Look at olmert's picture. Do you take him seriously, one who screws up everything, even the gaza opeation which was a clear victory over hamas but did not include philadelphi and hits on shifa basement because this moron didn't thinnk of it. Ehypt made peace because of idf and sharon. Arafat left beirut because of the idf. So if you pursue a goal that you know beforehand has some teeth, yoiu get somewhere. Israel had to rocket gaza by land to land rockets that whistle terror into the population. Ben gurion had conviction, begin had conviction, rabin had some conviction, olmert has nothing except fear and cunning to ingratiate himself with the court so that he could be acquitted of his indictments. No one believes him, he is a chronic liar and appeaser.Asmmetric methods are needed for hamas and not just special house to house tacticas. You need phosporus --good, you need human shields since the population supports hamas, they are guilty, you need terror rockets, you need to get the media the hell out of there and you need to eliminate key leaders. That is for starters.

Well aint THAT a shocker. Olmert is caught off guard for the gazillionth time in yet another misjudgement by the most failed alleged PM evah.

That Hamas has "toughened its stance" was entirely predictable. In fact, many of us *did* predict it. Every time Israel made clear it was wiling to pay a "high price", surprise! The price went up. Now we see the shameful spectacle of Israelis protesting to the government to bring Shalit home NOW! As if Israel were holding Shalit. ... And leave it to the media to add their own emotional pressure by repeatedly portraying the suffering of the Shalit family. So, with with everyone from a political class averse to raising a voice in opposition to a pending deal, to the media, to the man in the street pushing for a deal at any price, why would Hamas even consider moderating its demands?

By demanding 500 Arabs for a single Jew? They simply reinforce their humiliation!

It's time for new deal that Hamas will understand. Close the check points complete und cut the power complete until Gilad is back. It will not need negotiation, no one has to travel, it will not take a long time and the suffering of Gilad and his familily will come to an end soon, if he is alive beEsrat haShem. The recommendations of #4 and #7 can prevent further kidnappings.

Quote :” Shalit's father was informed of the news before the official statement to the media was issued.” I greatly appreciate that that the PMO first informed Mr. Noam Shalit of the news before informing the media. THAT’S the proper way to handle this delicate, difficult and touching affair concerning Corporal Gilad Shalit.

Hamas must be getting nervous that their atrocity will be exposed.