'Tight cooperation.' Barak
Photo: Arik Simchoni, Defense Ministry
Barak: Our duty to bring Shalit home
Defense minister tells Labor members negotiations still need to develop before prisoner swap possible. On Washington trip: Only deep relations with US will ensure military supremacy
Defense Minister Ehud Barak believes Israel is in a "sensitive spot" with regards to the negotiations for the return of captive soldier Gilad Shalit.
Speaking shortly after it was reported that Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal said that as time passes the Islamist group would increase the number of Palestinian prisoners it demands in exchange for Shalit, Barak said Monday, "There are negotiations which still need to develop in order to create the possibility of returning (Shalit), and there are other courses of action as well."
Speaking at a Labor faction meeting, the defense minister said, "We sent Gilad Shalit and it is our duty to work in every way possible in order to bring him back."
Barak recently returned from Washington, where he met with senior Obama Administration officials. "I appeared in the Senate for an open discussion, mainly concerning Iran. There is a very deep and tight cooperation on the security level. On the political level, we are waiting for the next steps," he said.
"My conclusion is that only deep relations with the US would ensure military supremacy. Only a resolved move in the political field can pull Israel out from the siege it entered in the last months," Barak told the Labor members.
