Karnit Goldwasser threatens to petition High Court
Kidnapped soldier's wife sends letter to prime minister, defense minister, saying she will take legal action if her husband Ehud, Eldad Regev are declared dead. Meanwhile, she meets with Olmert at his Jerusalem residence
Karnit Goldwasser, wife of kidnapped IDF soldier Ehud Goldwasser, sent a letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday, stating she intends on filing a petition with the High Court if her husband and Eldad Regev are declared dead.
The letter, sent by Goldwasser's attorneys Prof. Ariel Bendor, Eldad Yaniv and Sharon Stein, states that "you are herby asked to instruct the various authorities not to act in any way to have the soldiers'' status changed, a move which will necessarily lead to a change in Karnit Goldwasser's legal status.
"Should you decline, we will have no option but to seek legal recourse," said the letter, threatening to petition the High Court should the prime minister and defense minister fail to respond to the letter within 48 hours.
Meanwhile Tuesday, Goldwasser met with Olmert at his Jerusalem residence. The Prime Minister's Office reported that the meeting, which lasted about 30 minutes, was held as per Goldwasser's request and that she was unaccompanied by other family members.
Goldwasser said after the meeting that Olmert had promised her that a possible prisoner swap deal with Hizbullah would be brought to the government's approval during Sunday's cabinet meeting.
Letter to rabbis as well
On Monday, Chief IDF Rabbi Brigadier-General Avi Ronsky began the process of assessing the fate of captive IDF soldiers Goldwasser and Regev.
Ronsky received the relevant intelligence information and will determine whether or not do declare the two soldiers "killed in action whose place of burial is unknown". The chief military is the only one authorized to make such an assertion.
Karnit Goldwasser said after hearing of the decision that "this is a terrible day for me and a shameful one for the State of Israel. We always thought the problem was with (Hizbullah chief Hassan) Nasrallah."
The lawyers of the Goldwasser and Regev families also sent letters to Chief Rabbis Yona Metzger and Shlomo Amar and to Chief IDF Rabbi Ronsky.
"On behalf of the Goldwasser and Regev families, we ask you not to take any move which might change the legal status of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, until a comprehensive examination is held, including an inspection by an independent element."
Efrat Weiss contributed to this report
