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Olmert. Last effort?
Photo: Reuters
Mofaz visits protest tent
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Herzog. Critical hours
Photo: Gil Yohanan

Olmert: Decisions on Shalit to be made Monday

Government convenes as Shin Bet chief, special emissary negotiate deal for kidnapped soldier's release in Cairo. 'To this day, Hamas' stance was way beyond what the most moderate elements in Israel were willing to accept,' prime minister says. Minister Herzog: These hours are critical

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert informed government ministers on Sunday morning that he plans to convene a special cabinet meeting Monday to discuss the recent efforts aimed at securing kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit's release.

 

"An estimate of the situation will be given during the meeting, and we will then make the decision which has to be made," he said.

  

Shin Bet Director Yuval Diskin and Olmert's special emissary, Ofer Dekel, arrived in Cairo on Saturday evening for a round of talks with senior Egyptian officials in a bid to reach an agreement. The Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that the two were expected to return to Israel on Sunday evening.

 

Olmert told the ministers that he had held a series of discussions over the weekend ahead of the talks' completion.

 

"In the past three years we have exerted unstoppable and even supreme efforts to bring Shalit back. We worked intensively on all channels, in different places and under difference circumstances," he said without elaborating."

 

"To this day, Hamas' stance was way beyond what the most moderate elements here were willing to accept. My delegates will return this evening and report to me, and the government ministers will be briefed during the cabinet meeting. In accordance with the circumstances, we will decide whether and how to make decisions," Olmert added.

 

"I've said this in the past and I'm reiterating it – we want to bring Gilad back home, and are exerting great and unprecedented efforts for that, in the face of an inhuman terror organization which views human compassion as weakness," he concluded.

 

'No one knows what will happen after us'

Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit said before Sunday's meeting, "Over the weekend, great efforts were made to bring about an end to the deal. It should be understood that this government's days are numbered.

 

"Today the matter will be decided on for better or for worse, and let's hope it will be decided for the better. If this is the case, it will be a good note for the current government to go out on. This government is ready to complete the deal, and if it is changed, no one knows what will happen."

 

Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog said, "These are critical hours for Gilad Shalit's release. The heart cries out for his return home, but this is a complex and difficult situation. The other side doesn’t understand that we also have red lines, and it also has families waiting at home," added Herzog.

 

Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz visited the Shalit family's protest tent outside the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem on Sunday morning. He said that he had come to strengthen the family.

 

As for the special government meeting expected to convene Monday, the former IDF chief said, "I'm under the impression and real and vigorous efforts are being made and I hope we will be able to make the right decision.

 

"This is a moral duty on the national level. Just like we send soldiers to missions we must guarantee their return," he stated.

 

Officially, Hamas leaders refused to confirm or deny that any progress had been made in the Shalit deal, in light of the Israeli reports. However, relatives of Palestinian prisoners expected to be released by Israel as part of the agreement told Ynet they were under the impression that the talks were in high gear.

 

On Saturday it was reported that Hamas had demanded that the number of prisoners expelled to the Gaza Strip or abroad would be minimal, and had even demanded to receive these prisoners' consent first.

 

Gilad Shalit was kidnapped into the Gaza Strip 994 days ago

 


פרסום ראשון: 03.15.09, 09:45
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