Congressional resolution calls for captives' return
Karnit Goldwasser, wife of kidnapped soldier Ehud, meets US House representatives who sponsored resolution demanding unconditional release of soldiers, condemning behavior by Hizbullah and its sponsors
WASHINGTON - "I have no doubt that your wonderful husband and the two other brave Israeli soldiers will return," US Congressman Tom Lantos told Karnit Goldwasser, giving her a fatherly hug as she stepped up to the podium to speak at Capitol Hill.
The wife of Ehud Goldwasser, in Washington on behalf of the captives' families, held a press conference with Lantos - chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee - and other US representatives regarding a bi-partisan congressional resolution, which demands that the soldiers be freed.
Karnit Goldwasser with UN Ambassador Dan Gillerman (Photo: Reuters)
The resolution, which will be brought before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and then before the House plenum and the Senate for a vote, calls for an unconditional release of the captives and expresses dismay that no sign of life has been heard from them in over half a year.
"To date, there has been no access to these men by medical personnel or the Red Cross or the Red Crescent," said the resolution's sponsor Rep. Gary Ackerman, chairman of the House subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia.
"They have not been permitted to send mail to their loved ones. We don't know if they are wounded. We don't know for certain they are still alive," he said.
Resolution 'sends a message'
Lantos said the resolution, which places responsibility for the kidnapping on Iran and Syria, as well as on terrorist groups Hamas and Hizbullah, sends a clear message that Congress is standing firm beside Israel in its fight against terror.
Recounting the Monday suicide bombing in Eilat that killed three Israelis, Lantos voiced his desire to crush terror and bring quiet and security to Israel.
Ackerman conceded that the US government has no way of compelling the terror groups to free their captors. But, "we can let the perpetrators of the barbarism know that we have not forgotten what they have done," he said.
Ackerman and Lantos were joined in a show of support by party member Rep. Alcee Hastings and Republicans Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Rep. Mike Pence.
Ros-Lehtinen, also addressing the Monday bombing in Eilat, expressed her opinion that deals Israel made with Lebanon in 2000 and with the Palestinians in 2005 were not accepted by these governments as good faith gestures but as a sign of weakness.
"With the deaths on Monday of three Israelis at the hands of a suicide bomber in a resort city on the Red Sea, we are again reminded of the perils of trying to negotiate with terrorists," Ros-Lehtinen said.
Keeping the struggle alive
At a press conference attended by Israeli ambassador in Washington Sallai Meridor and Israel's UN envoy Danny Gillerman, Goldwasser voiced support for the resolution. She thanked the participants for all they are doing and asked them to continue."I go to sleep alone. I wake up alone," she said. "We need to do everything we can to make sure this subject stays on the agenda and that this subject is not forgotten. Please don't stop raising your voices."
Goldwasser, who is in the United States for her fifth time since the kidnapping, will also participate in the AIPAC annual dinner on Thursday, where Hillary Clinton and other US officials will be speaking.
"We must keep reminding the world that UN Security Council Resolution 1701 calls for the release of the soldiers has not been implemented," she told Ynet.
"It cannot be that European nations, who send soldiers to Lebanon, don't demand that this issue be resolved."
News agencies contributed to this report
