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Photo: Reuters
Karnit Goldwasser. "Italians' opinion matters."
Photo: Reuters
Chiara Di Segni Shilat. Touched

New immigrant helps captives' families

Meetings with Italian officials to take place thanks to Chiara Di Segni Shilat, Italian correspondent who lives in Israel. Tony Blair, Hillary Clinton sign petition for the soldiers

Chiara Di Segni Shilat saw the wife of kidnapped IDF soldier Ehud Goldwasser on the internet "and I simply sympathized with her." The Italian correspondent who moved to Israel two years ago got in touch with Karnit Goldwasser "and asked what I could do help bring the soldiers home."

 

Di Segni initiated a petition calling for the immediate release of the three kidnapped soldiers: Eldad Regev who was kidnapped together with Ehud Goldwasser in Lebanon, and Gilad Shalit, kidnapped near the Gaza Strip. The petition was made public on Saturday and has already been signed by British Premier Tony Blair, Senator Hillary Clinton, Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg and some 1,500 Italian citizens.

 

Thanks to Di Segni's connections in the Italian government and press, she managed to schedule meetings on Wednesday and Thursday between the families of the kidnapped soldiers and Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Massimo D'Alema, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, former Minister for Foreign Affairs Gianfranco Fini and other officials in the Italian government.

 

"We hope to have the Italians pass a bill calling for the release of the soldiers, like the Americans did a couple of weeks ago," said Goldwasser. "The Italians were among the initiators of resolution 1701; they have soldiers posted in Lebanon, in fact, the commander of the multi-national force in Lebanon is Italian; and the subject is close to their hearts. Due to their status in the European Parliament their opinion is valued by other Europeans," she said.

 

According to Di Segni, the purpose of the petition is to convince Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema, to use his influence on leaders in the Arab world to promote the return of the soldiers to Israel. "D'Alema is known as a pro-Arab and has met several times with the Hizbullah. I hope that when D'Alema sees the support the Italian people are giving us, he will do what he can to help us," she said.

 

"I am just an average Israeli citizen who has a chance to do what everyone would want to," she sums up.

 

Lilach Shoval contributed to the report

 


פרסום ראשון: 02.12.07, 11:43
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