We can't celebrate freedom this Pesach, says Noam Shalit

Three hundred schools throughout Israel held solidarity ceremonies Tuesday morning to mark 250 days since the abduction of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in July.

“We won’t be able to celebrate freedom this year. We will sit at home, and wait for Gilad to be set free,” said Noam Shalit, father of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.

He spoke at a ceremony held at his son’s former school, and said that it was particularly heartwarming, since the students put in so much time and effort into it, in the hopes that Gilad would soon be released.

“Gilad is our child, he studied here, and we expect the government and the IDF to do everything possible in order to bring the boy home,” said Gila Michael, the school’s principal.

Eyal Regev, Eldad’s brother, said that the fighting in Lebanon shouldn’t have stopped before the soldiers were returned.

“Their return was possible without putting soldiers at risk. We hope and believe the government is doing everything, and not placing obstacles in the way of bringing back the captured,” Regev said during his speech at Eldad’s high school in Haifa.

Miki Goldwasser, Ehud’s mother, spoke at a ceremony in Tel Aviv, and said that issue of the kidnapped soldiers, and efforts to release them, were a part of “our identity”.

“I’m sure that the government won’t fail in bringing them home, since it cannot handle the shame,” Goldwasser said.

Education Minister Yuli Tamir said, “If we must go to the Syrians or to Lebanon to find out their fate, we must not be afraid to do so. We must offer everything we are willing to offer in order to know how to get the sons back home. We have to open the door for a dialogue now," she said.

MK Silvan Shalom (Likud) attacked the international community for not doing enough to help bring the soldiers home. He called on the UN secretary general to do all in his power to make sure the soldiers were released.

Moran Zelikovich contributed to this article