Demonstrating outside Bibi's home
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Gilad Shalit: 880 days in captivity
Photo: AP
Netanyahu. Promised to act
Photo: AP
Dozens of people staged a protest Friday morning outside the Jerusalem home of Likud
Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu,
demanding that he work for the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.
According to Leibovich, the opposition leader told the demonstrators that brining Shalit back was his first priority.
"Netanyahu came to us and told us, unequivocally, that Gilad Shalit was not an election slogan," said Miki Leibovich of the campaign for Shalit's release. "We expect him, as a premiership candidate, to let us know what he plans to do operatively on the Gilad issue."
Kidnapped Soldier
Kidnapped soldier's father slams PM Olmert's recent gesture to Abbas, says 'Hamas has only doubled and tripled its demands'. Shlomo Goldwasser: Government gave up on Gilad
"Netanyahu said he has talked about it with Noam Shalit (Gilad's father) and will not elaborate further. We told him the Israeli public expects to hear his opinion, but he failed to answer our questions and decided to evade us, reiterating the slogan that this was an issue with great national importance."
Guy Eliasaf, 22, Shalit's comrade, said, "Every week we demonstrate outside the home of one of the premiership candidates. Today we are demonstrating outside Netanyahu's house because he is an influential person with a lot of power in this country.
"He, however, chooses not to do a thing and prefers to give us slogans and make false statements. I guess all he cares about now is getting elected, and not Gilad Shalit.
"I told him we have had enough of slogans, we want to see some action, we want to receive a practical promise. I guess all he cares about is his seat, rather than what the people care about – Gilad Shalit.
"There are ordinary people here, who came because they care. There are many members of Shalit's company and we are all continuing this battle. We have been released from the army, but we haven't been released from our commitment to bring Gilad home," he concluded.
Gilad Shalit was kidnapped into the Gaza Strip 880 days ago.