'No stone will be left unturned'

"The Thursday before you were kidnapped I gave you a lift… I didn't insist on kissing you goodbye and that was the last time I saw you, the last time I heard your voice.

"We couldn't reach you all weekend. The next Sunday, after we were told what had happened, I left you a message on your cell phone. I'm still waiting for you to call back," she said. 

"About two weeks after your kidnapping Udi and Eldad were kidnapped just off the border. A wretched war broke out that day - the Second Lebanon War.

Aviva Shalit and Karnit Goldwasser (Photo: Hagai Aharon) 

"We celebrated your 20th birthday in late August, sure you'd be back with us for the holidays. But those went by without you," Shalit added. 

"Today we mark a year to the kidnappings and in six weeks we'll celebrate your birthday. The holidays are coming again and time marches on."

No stone left unturned

"The hell we're going through is nothing compared to yours," she added after the tape made of Gilad by Hamas was aired in the rally.

"Not knowing how you are, physically, mentally, where you are and how you're treated is eating at us.

I pray that the people holding you still have a shred of humanity left and are caring for your safety," Aviva Shalit said.

"There's been talk of the price for your release…every mother here knows you cannot put a price on our children's lives, especially when they've been sent on a mission by the State.

"Giladi – we will not rest, we will keep going, demanding actions – not words. No stone will be left unturned until you're finally back home," said Shalit's mother.

Miki Goldwasser, Ehud's mother, chose to address the families of prisoners held in Israel.

"I call on all Lebanese mothers, whose sons are being held by Israel – don't you want your sons to come home? Go and demand their return from those who promised it.

"Mothers are not afraid – mothers fight. I call on all of you – fights for you sons' return."