Barak. Thinking about Shalit
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Barak: Transit government should work on releasing Shalit
Defense minister says leaders will soon be faced with difficult decisions in case of kidnapped soldier; adds he would have succeeded in coalition talks where Kadima chairwoman failed
"The transit government should continue to take care of Gilad Shalit, and we will push for this," Labor Chairman Ehud Barak said Saturday during a cultural event held in the Tzavta Theater in Tel Aviv.
Barak spoke of the difficulties in negotiating a deal for the kidnapped soldier's release. "We will have to make some difficult decisions. Some of the public will have butterflies in their stomach when the list of prisoners we have to release is revealed," he said. "I am not afraid. We will do everything we can to bring him home, but it won't be easy."
"As someone who led troops and gave them orders, I understand the profound responsibility of returning Gilad Shalit home alive," he said. "Not a day goes by that I don't battle with this."
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The defense minister also spoke of the ceasefire in Gaza, and promised that the IDF would attack Hamas if the situation came to blows. However he warned against unnecessary battles. "In the midst of a Gaza operation there is no chance for negotiations on Shalit," he explained.
Regarding peace talks with Syria Barak said, "We pushed Olmert to create ties with Syria but today we are still at a very low level. I assume any major developments will only come once the next US administration takes control."
He added that Syrian priorities include the continuation of the current regime, bringing the investigation of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination to a close, and relations with Lebanon and the US.
A few days after Kadima Chairwoman Tzipi Livni announced she had failed to negotiate a new coalition government Barak remarked, "A man like Peres would have formed a government in three days, and I in three weeks.
"In the past I established a government while most of the Knesset opposed me, unlike Livni who had a majority of 70 MKs. Livni is an honest and straightforward person, but that is not enough to lead a country."
Regarding the case of the interviews given byYigal Amir, who assassinated former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Barak said he was "convinced that twisted and contemptible man should rot in prison. He should not have any discourse with the outside world."
