Friends of captive soldiers to hold Passover seder outside PM's home
'The fact that Udi, Eldad and Gilad will not be home for the second consecutive seder proves that the issue of the captives' release is not high on the prime minister's priority list,' organizer says
Friends of kidnapped Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev and Gilad Shalit announced their intention to hold the Passover Eve meal in front of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's official residence in Jerusalem.
One of the event's planners said that several dozen people would be present at the seder.
Shalit was kidnapped by Hamas-affiliated Palestinian terrorists who attacked Israeli troops outside the Gaza border on June 26, 2006. Regev and Goldwasser were captured by Hizbullah terrorists during a cross-border raid the following month, on July 12, 2006. The event led to the Second Lebanon War.
"The fact that our friends will not be at home for the second consecutive seder proves that the issue of the captives' release is not high on the prime minister's priority list," said Miki Leibovitch, a member of the 'Friends for the Kidnapped Soldiers' organization.
During the seder the traditional reading of the haggadah will begin with the words "Udi (Ehud), Eldad and Gilad – this is the second Festival of Freedom (Pesach) that you are not with us; the second Passover in which your families will sit at the seder table without you. Do you even know that it is a holiday now? On the day you were kidnapped we vowed never to forget you and to continue to fight for your freedom until you come back in good health."
The organizers also urged Israeli Knesset members to attend. "We hope that as opposed to their behavior thus far - when they ignored the Purim goods we sent them and Mickey Goldwasser's letter - this time they will attend and prove they are committed to the release of the captives," one of them said.
In recent weeks members of 'Friends for the Kidnapped Soldiers' distributed phone numbers of MKs and ministers at Tel Aviv coffee shops and urged the patrons to contact the lawmakers and urge them to work towards securing the soldiers' release. According to the organization, thousands of messages were sent to the parliamentarians.
On Tuesday mothers of Israeli soldiers are expected to hold a rally outside the PM's residence. "We hope the State is committed to our sons at least as much as they themselves are committed to it and contribute to it," a statement released by the rally's organizers said.
