Families of abducted soldiers expect more, Karnit Goldwasser and Noam Shalit
Phot : Gil Yohanan
Olmert's dilemma
PM won't pay any price for abducted troops, but Israel still haunted by Arad affair
I suggest that we believe Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who last week said that he alone is authorized to provide information on the condition of abducted IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.
Regretfully, all other announcements regarding this painful and sensitive matter stem from Hizbullah's campaign of psychological warfare or the desire by members of the international community to make headlines on the backs of the two soldiers.
Even the report in the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar pertaining to the announcements made by sources exposed to the secrets of the indirect negotiations with Nasrallah is part of the war of nerves conducted by Nasrallah against Israel.
With all due caution: In Israel there is little optimism regarding the fate of the two. The families of the abducted soldiers are privy to the secret of the indirect negotiations between Beirut and Jerusalem being conducted by Ofer Dekel and the German mediator appointed by the UN secretary general.
The Goldwasser and Regev families are informed of every detail or development in the negotiations process in real time. The prime minister, as first reported in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, briefed the families on the report compiled by the IDF chief medical officer, according to which the soldiers sustained serious injuries during the explosion of the Hummer they were riding and were likely to have been killed. This subject, and all its implications, was discussed at length with the families.
A reminder: At the beginning of talks Nasrallah placed very high stakes on the German mediator. He announced that he is demanding that Israel release hundreds of Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners who were tried for the murder of Israelis as a precondition for delivering any information on the condition of the two soldiers.
The Israeli side firmly rejected this demand, just as it rejected the price marked by Nasrallah to complete the deal: 4,000 Palestinian prisoners, Arab Israelis, Jordanian and Lebanese, headed by convicted murderer Samir Kuntar.
Families want unequivocal answers
A special team of psychological experts alongside experts who have been monitoring Nasrallah's conduct for years was set up in the Prime Minister's Office. The team's key recommendation to Ehud Olmert was to refrain from responding to Nasrallah's declarations. The only person on our side who tends to respond is Benjamin Netanyahu, who last week labeled Nasrallah a "braggart".
Regardless of one team or another, Olmert is convinced that the responsibility obliges him to reject the price demanded by Nasrallah. The prime minister has said this to the Goldwasser and Regev families in the most direct and blunt manner: "I will not pay a price that would encourage future terror organizations to abduct Israelis whoever they are."
Yet despite this, it should be noted that over the negotiations to release the two soldiers hovers a dark cloud of all the mistakes made in trying to reveal what happened to missing airman Ron Arad throughout the years.
The soldiers' families want unequivocal answers. If, heaven forbid, the two are no longer alive, they will know how to deal with their grief, but if there is no unequivocal evidence, they expect the government to make a little more effort. This is the dilemma Olmert faces every day, from the moment he enters his chambers and looks at the photos of Goldwasser and Regev in his office and which are visible to all those meeting with the prime minister.
