After spending three days opposite the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem at the protest tent erected as part of the struggle to free kidnapped soldier Gild Shalit, activists stressed Tuesday that time was running out.
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"We have a sign here counting the days since Gilad Shalit's kidnapping. This evening we counted 990 days. We don't have room for four digits on this sign. This is the bottom line," said Tom Dromi, who is in charge of the logistical aspects of the protest.
"I hope that the pressure of the human mass we have seen here in the last three days will have an effect. These are people who see there is a chance and don't want to see it lost.
"This pressure represents the people's feelings. It's not a media spin," he added.
"Many here have been activists for the Shalit cause for a long time," Dromi said. "We have been able to collect a lot of public opinion and press, from all over the world and in all languages." He said many had been calling him to make sure they would be able to shake hands with Aviva and Noam once they had arrived for a visit at the tent.
After three days of activity during which the tent was visited by ministers Ehud Barak and Eli Yishai, a certain reservation was expressed by many of the activists. Many were surprised that the same ministers arriving to show their support for the Shalits were the same officials expected to make the important decisions on the matter.
Many activists also doubted that the negotiations taking place through Egyptian mediation were in any way affected by the protest tent.
Earlier Tuesday Noam and Aviva Shalit and Gilad's grandfather Zvi met with Olmert at her Jerusalem home. "I fully sympathize with the struggle to release Gilad, and had I not been aware of the intensive efforts that are being invested in bringing him back, I probably would have joined the tent myself," Olmert said.
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