'Five years without embrace." Shalit
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Noam Shalit: Why can't Israel free Gilad?
Noam Shalit slams leadership, defense establishment for failing to release his son
1,800 days and nights in captivity: Noam Shalit, the father of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, slammed Israel's leadership and security establishment in a a speech Monday.
Speaking at a ceremony in Jerusalem titled "the settlement project salutes Jerusalem," Shalit addressed the audience, including Interior Minister Eli Yishai and Agriculture Minister Orit Noked, and asked them "what is happening here?"
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"Where is the mutual guarantee? Is this just a slogan that is empty of substance?" he said.
The kidnapped soldier's father also addressed the hundreds of teenagers in attendance, and told them: "I ask of you, dear boys and girls, try to recall what you managed to accomplish in the past five years.
"Several of you realized your dreams – studied, had fun, opened a Facebook page – Gilad doesn’t even know what Facebook is," he said.
'Gilad abandoned in dark'
"Gilad our son has been abandoned in the dark for five whole years. We don't have the slimmest piece of information about him or what he is going through, we only know what his dreams are," Noam Shalit said"He's been living this way for five years – without his mother's soup or his father's embrace. Over the years the State has released thousands of terrorists with a ratio of hundreds to one," he said.
"It is not a sign of weakness; I think it is a sign of strength," Shalit said, "I am sure that each and every one of you is worth hundreds of prisoners with blood on their hands and more, if God forbid you find yourselves in Gilad's situation."
"There is the familiar claim that released terrorists will go back to terror activities, and I ask whether the State of Israel fears a few hundred prisoners, a few of whom might go back to terror activities?" Shalit said.
During his speech, Noam Shalit called on the prime minister "to rescue Gilad from the cruel fate other captive soldiers suffered."
"It wasn’t us or Gilad that determined the price. Israel's governments failed in the past five years to secure his release," he said, addressing the young audience again: "Dear youth, you have the power to return Gilad, please help us."
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