_a.jpg "צילום: ירון ברנר")
Rally in Tel Aviv
Photo: Yaron Brener
Rally: Truce without Shalit will seal his fate
Demonstrators say if Israel fails to take advantage of Gaza operation to release kidnapped soldier, country will experience 'moral meltdown'
Some 30 people gathered outside the Kirya Military Base in Tel Aviv Friday morning and called on the government to include the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in any ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
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A National Security Cabinet meeting that was scheduled to take place at the base was called off.
Guy Eliasaf, a friend of the captive soldier, said the rally was staged as part of the efforts to convince Israel's decision-makers not to sign a ceasefire deal that does not include Shalit's release.
"We have been informed that the burgeoning truce agreement does not include even one clause that relates to Shalit; we must learn from past mistakes and make the issue a prerequisite," he said.
"The army is in control in Gaza now, and this is a great opportunity (to release Shalit); if Israel does not take advantage of this opportunity, the country will experience a moral meltdown. If we sign a truce that does not include Gilad – it would mean his death sentence."
Addressing the recent false reports saying Shalit has been injured and the rumors of his release, Eliasaf said, "Gilad isn’t home, and that is the only thing that matters. When you hear the rumors the heart trembles – you think to yourself 'maybe they're true and he is coming home'; but when you learn that the reports and rumors are false, you focus on what needs to be done to induce the public into applying pressure on the government so it will make the right decisions and make Gilad a top priority."
Shalit was captured by Palestinian terrorists during a cross-border raid on an IDF base near Gaza on June 25, 2006.
