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Barak: Prefer Shalit return to reelections
Protesters from Public's Campaign for Hostages' Release campaign in front of defense minister's home; during meeting with campaign leaders, promises that elections won't have adverse effect on release efforts
Rona Tal
Defense Minister Ehud Barak
"would rather see Gilad Shalit home than get reelected," reported Miki Leibovitch, who heads the Headquarters of the Public's Campaign for the Hostages' Release, now focused solely on Shalit.
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"After about an hour of protesting, Barak's security guard beckoned to me and called me into a meeting. I took four other people with me, including his company commander," he said.
In the half-hour meeting that ensued, "we asked concrete questions regarding steps the government needs to take, why we're not creating a situation in which Hamas has something to lose, why we don't close crossings, why we keep transferring food and supplies, why the Israeli government doesn't become an active negotiator," he relayed.
According to Leibovitch, the defense minister promised that he would not allow the fact that Israel
is headed towards elections to have an adverse affect on the situation with Shalit.
He said that Barak stated: "I would rather Gilad return and not be elected than be elected and not return him." The defense minister refused, however, to pass on information on whether any talks had been held in recent days.
"We told him that these are elections-period slogans and nothing more and implied that, as someone who wants to get elected prime minister, it's time for him to listen to the nation – and the nation is asking for Shalit back," Leibovitch said.
"In our opinion, this is another attempt for him to impress the cameras, but we appreciate the fact that he called us in for a meeting, despite the waffling answers, as opposed to Tzipi Livni who refuses to speak with us when we're in front of her home," he said.
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