Lieutenant Hanan Barak
Reproduction photo: Uriel Hershko
Staff Sergeant Pavel Slutzker
Photo: Uriel Hershco
Lydia Slutzker. No hope
Photo: Uriel Hershko
Parents of kidnapping victims pray for Shalit's return
Lieutenant Hanan Barak, Staff Sergeant Pavel Slutzker were killed by terrorists who abducted Gilad Shalit into Gaza. Now their parents call on government to do everything in order to release their crew member. 'I feel like Hanan is with Gilad and still helping him even after his death,' mother tells Ynet
On the day Corporal Gilad Shalit was kidnapped
out of a tank at the Kerem Shalom post, his fellow crew members, Lieutenant Hanan Barak and Staff Sergeant Pavel Slutzker, were killed by the terrorists. Today, more than two years after their personal tragedy began, the two fallen soldiers' parents are asking the government to do everything in order to bring Shalit back home.
"Ever since the Kerem Shalom incident, I could not but tie our fate to the fate of the Goldwasser and Regev families and to the fate of the Shalit family," he told Ynet.
David Barak, Hanan's father, visited the families of fallen IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev on Sunday.
Freedom for All
Colombian-French politician holds kidnapped Israeli soldier's picture as she urges rebels to free all hostages during Paris rally
"I first met the Regev and Goldwasser families on the solidarity rally marking two years since Gilad's abduction, and today I felt the need to console them as a bereaved father. It was the least I could do."
Hanan Barak was Gilad Shalit's commander, and his parents say the two had a special connection. This is why his parents insist to continue fighting for Shalit's return.
"I feel that Hanan is with Gilad and is still helping him. That was his character in life, and after his death as well," says Hanan's mother, Nela. "I hope he is guarding Gilad from above as well."
Hanan's parents call on the government to speed up the negotiations for Shalit's release.
"There is a difference between the ideal and reality," says Nela. "As time goes by, the demands rise, and the government's delays and naivety attempts raise the price we will be forced to pay.
"This entire affair could have ended when it began had we compromised for what they asked for. We are paying a very heavy emotional price as a state as the negotiations continue."
David Barak believes that the negotiations aimed at securing Shalit's release are serious but are being held far from the public's eye.
"When I met the prime minister during the mourning period I discovered a warn person, who is sensitive to the fate of soldiers and civilians. I believe he will do everything in his power to bring Gilad back home. However, I cannot ignore the character assassination he is undergoing, and this testifies to the Gilad Shalit deal as well."
As for the chances of the hostage deal to be executed, David says, "I have no way of knowing whether it will succeed, but I pray to God every day to let Gilad come home alive."
Lydia Slutzker, Pavel's mother, is much less optimistic. "What can I tell Gilad's family? Have patience and power," she says. "Two years have passed and they must wait, and there is no hope. The Shalit family attended Pavel's memorial service this year. They told us they have some hope, but one cannot know what will happen."
Slutzker believes that the prime minister's political situation is the thing preventing the prisoner swap deal from progressing.
"The prime minister is weak, very weak, and cannot do anything. It's a danger to the State that Shalit is not returned and that the prime minister is weak," she says.
These days, Shalit's comrades are being released from the IDF, and Lydia conveys a message to them: "They should take care of themselves. Those who were with Pavel are already at home. They remember him, but a long time has passed. The military people arrive, they all arrive and many of them. They are good people, but what can they do?"
Gilad Shalit was kidnapped into the Gaza Strip 756 days ago.
Yonat Atlas contributed to this report
