'Stop putting Gazans before Gilad'

Hundreds assembled in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square on Monday evening to ask forgiveness of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit ahead of Yom Kippur. His father, Noam Shalit, was also in attendance.

Keynote speaker Shlomo Goldwasser, whose son Ehud was killed in the raid that sparked the Second Lebanon War, slammed the government's failure to bring Shalit home.

"Stop putting Gazans before Gilad," said Goldwasser. "Look at what's happening here. Frustrated citizens can't believe their own eyes when they see the flippant ease with which the matter of this captive soldier is pushed down to fourth or fifth place on the government's agenda.

"Bringing a soldier home from battle was and will continue to be the enduring symbol of motivation for the boys and girls we send out to defend us, the state, the welfare stipends, the markets, the rich, and particularly those in office.

'We're sorry, we want you home' - read the signs (Photo: Yaron Brener)

"For 824 days now Gilad Shalit has been denied the most basic of human rights while here talk centers daily on the human rights of the Gazans," added the bereaved father.

"Gilad has the right to visitations, to Red Cross visits, to contact with the outer world – just as the Gazans who elected Hamas have the right to the same, and just as their prisoners are granted those rights here."

Oren Schtang, who organized the event, told Ynet: "It's the holiday season and we have a 22-year-old boy rotting away while all of Israel sits down to their plates of gefilte fish. We're facing the same institution that failed to return Ron Arad. As citizens, if the government proves inept, we must act. Today we ask Gilad for forgiveness, for failing to bring him home."

"I'm happy to see so many young people here, students and citizens who just care," added Schtang. "I've asked for his forgiveness so many times, for the days we can't seem to move anything for him, from his parents – who can't celebrate this holiday like the rest of Israel.

Earlier in the evening the loudspeakers set up in the Square served anyone who wanted to say something, an open microphone for Gilad. Alongside the written signs and letters, they read theirs aloud.

Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger said a prayer for Gilad as the ceremony commenced, which included performances by Shlomo Gronich, Si Haiman, Daniel Solomon and Adi Cohen.

Noa Nahimovsky, Yuval Naim and Sapir Selti, all 15-year-old schoolgirls from Beit Ariyeh, came to the Square along with others from their scout group.

"Gilad went out to protect the state and ended up in captivity. We're here to say we're sorry for our apathy, and to remind him that we know he's alive and that we're waiting for him with open arms. We haven't lost hope, it's time to take action," they said.

On October 19th convoys of cars will make their way from 10 starting points throughout the country towards Kerem Shalom – where Shalit was kidnapped – to take part in a rally calling for his release.

Sharon Navot contributed to this report