Ex-Shin Bet chief slams Netanyahu over Shalit

Former Shin Bet chief Carmi Gilon on Sunday took part in the "Gilad Project" and spent an hour at a specially created cell at the Herzliya TV studios to protest the ongoing incarceration of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

A staunch supporter of a prisoner exchange deal, Gilon harshly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his failure to secure a deal with Hamas.

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"I just don't get how Netanyahu could have freed Khaled Mashaal, and Sheikh Yassin and three Mossad men who were imprisoned by (Jordan's) King Hussein and does not release Shalit. Maybe he has something against common soldiers."

Gilon accused Netanyahu of acting out of political rather than security motives. "He knows he can't pass a deal through the forum of seven ministers as most of them are opposed to it and sleeps in peace at night in Caesarea or Jerusalem while Shalit is in the worst place."

The ex-Shin Bet chief also pointed a finger at former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi for declaring the army has no clue where Shalit is kept and failing to pressure the government to carry out a deal.

He did not spare criticism from Yuval Diskin, outgoing Shin Bet chief, who has also admitted to personally failing to retrieve Shalit.

"It's not enough to come out of one's shell and say 'That's my greatest personal failure.' Where were you all this time? What did you do? Or did you just say 'Let the soldier die in prison as we don't know how to handle the cost?'"

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