Barak: We're committed to bringing back Shalit
Defense minister says Israel has 'moral obligation' to free kidnapped soldier, 'but not at any cost, and not just through negotiations'. Adds: Draft-dodging undermines egalitarian nature of society
"We have a moral obligation to carry out any possible and suitable operation that could bring back (kidnapped IDF soldier) Gilad Shalit, but not at any cost, and not just through negotiations." Defense Minister Ehud Barak said during a conference at Tel Aviv University on Sunday.
"The State of Israel's finest – military, defense services and intelligence – are working on this issue. We will have to make difficult decisions, but I am not afraid if this is what will bring Gilad home," Barak said.
A Palestinian source affiliated with Hamas recently told the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper that the negotiations on the kidnapped soldier's release have been postponed until after the general elections in Israel, scheduled for February 10.
Shalit was captured during a cross-border raid by Palestinian terrorists on an IDF base near Gaza on June 25, 2006.
The defense minister said that despite the various threats Israel is facing from Iran, Hizbullah, Syria, Hamas, as well as the global economic meltdown, there are also many opportunities – a possible agreement with the Palestinians, the indirect talks with Syria and initiatives aimed at achieving a comprehensive peace that will also give the region an economic boost."
As for the draft-dodging phenomenon, Barak said it "undermines the egalitarian nature of Israeli society. Army service must be expanded in such a way that the ultra-Orthodox population will also enlist, as will the Arab sector, if only in the framework of serving within their own communities at first."
