"The government that was in power when Gilad Shalit was taken captive must take responsibility and work towards securing his release," the daughter of missing Israeli navigator Ron Arad said
Monday evening upon arriving at the protest tent set up by the captive soldier's family outside Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's
Jerusalem residence.
| Slain Soldier's Widow |
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| Karnit Goldwasser: This is a fight for our values / Ronen Medzini |
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Widow of Hizbullah-held soldier visits Gilad Shalit's parents' protest tent in Jerusalem, says fight for their son's release is a struggle for Israeli society's values, price irrelevant |
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"Speaking from 23 years of experience, regime changes are always problematic (when it comes to bringing captive soldiers home)," Yuval Arad said. "We are here to support Noam and Aviva Shalit (Gilad's parents) and are joining the struggle for Gilad's return. A brave decision must be made in order to bring him home as soon as possible. "
Chen Arad, the navigator's brother, who accompanied his niece to the protest tent, also criticized the government's conduct throughout the affair.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak also arrived at the protest tent, but insisted that reporters be kept out of his 15-minute meeting with Noam Shalit. As he was leaving the tent Barak was confronted by dozens of demonstrators chanting "We want him home; we want him now."
Karnit Goldwasser, the widow of IDF reservist Ehud Goldwasser, who was killed while in Hizbullah
captivity and returned to Israel as part of its 2008 prisoner exchange deal
with the Shiite group, visited the protest tent earlier in the Day.
"His name may be Gilad Shalit, but he represents every soldier in the military. What are we fighting for – a single soldier or our values? This is an IDF soldier who was abducted and (the politicians) would rather we forget that," she said.
Noam and Aviva Shalit set up the protest tent on Sunday after Olmert was quoted as saying that the public demonstrations calling for their son's release were "unhelpful."
Gilad Shalit was captured by Palestinian terrorists during a cross-border raid on an IDF base near Gaza on June 25, 2006.
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