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-RELEASE OF GIL’AD SHALIT-

As human being, Jew and an Israeli it is not easy for me to write this personal

opinion, but regardless of everything I feel responsibility toward my country

to do such so.

Let’s see first facts, later on moral and ethical issues and on the end

contradictory followed with possible security consequences about everything

connected to this misfortunate young Israeli soldier who was captured by

Hamas 5 yrs. ago and hidden from family, friends even from visit byInternational Red Cross!!!

FACTS:

Personal life/ Gil’ad Shalit was born on 28 August 1986 in Nahariya,Israel, to Noam and Aviva Shalit, along with an older brother and a youngersister, and were raised from the age of two in Mitzpe Hila in the WesternGalilee. He graduated with distinction from Manor Kabri High School. Shalitbegan military service in the Israel Defense Forces in July 2005, and "despitea low medical profile, he preferred to serve in a combat unit, following his

older brother, Yoel, into the armored corps. He holds dual Israeli and French citizenship. Gil’ad Shalit (Hebrew: טילש דעלג,) is an Israeli and French national and an IDF soldier who was captured from Israel on 25 June 2006 byHamas militants in a cross-border raid. Shalit was abducted near the KeremShalom crossing (in Israel), and has been held as a hostage at an unknownlocation in the Gaza Strip by Hamas. As of October 11, 2011, it was reportedthat a deal may soon secure his freedom after more than five years inisolation and captivity, though Shalit has not yet been freed. Hamas hasrefused requests from the International Committee of the Red Cross to allowthe ICRC to visit Shalit, and claims that any such visit could betray thelocation where Shalit is being held captive. Multiple human rights 

organizations have stated that the terms and conditions of Shalit'sconfinement are contrary to international humanitarian law. To date, the onlycontact between Shalit and the outside world since his capture has beenthree letters, an audio tape, and a DVD that Israel received in return forreleasing 20 female Palestinian prisoners. Shalit holds dual French and Israelicitizenship, a fact that encouraged France and the European Union to beinvolved in efforts to release him from his captors. In exchange for hisrelease, Hamas is demanding the release of 1,000 prisoners – Palestinians

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serving prison sentences in Israel – as well as all female and underagePalestinians convicted and serving sentences. A major sticking point innegotiations between the sides for the release of Shalit is Hamas insistenceon the release of Marwan Bargouti, currently serving five life sentences inIsrael for murder.

 The United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, which releaseda report in September 2009, has also called for Shalit to be released. In itsMay 27, 2011 Deauville Declaration, the G8 demanded the release of GiladShalit.  Shalit's capture is often referred as kidnapping, because the soldierhas been granted none of the human rights due to a captured soldier underthe Geneva Conventions, that entitles them to receive visits from the RedCross and to communicate with family members, and a ransom, even if notof a monetary nature, has been demanded for his return. The Red CrossDirector-General Yves Daccord also stated that “The Schalit family has theright under international humanitarian law to be in contact with their son”.Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced that he will revoke

benefits and privileges – such as university education – from Palestinianmilitants in Israeli jails, in response to Hamas’s refusal to let the InternationalRed Cross visit Shalit. He was the first Israeli soldier captured by Palestinianmilitants since Nachshon Wachsman in 1994.Shalit, holding a rank of corporal in the IDF's Armor Corps at the time of his abduction, has sincebeen promoted to Staff Sergeant.

His capture/ Early on Sunday morning, 25 June 2006, Shalit was captured byPalestinian militants who infiltrated an Israeli army post on the Israeli side of the southern Gaza Strip border after crossing through an underground tunnelnear the Kerem Shalom border crossing. During the attack, two Palestinian

militants and two IDF soldiers were killed and three others wounded, asidefrom Shalit, who reportedly suffered a broken left hand and a light shoulderwound after his tank was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade. Shalit's captorsissued a statement on Monday, 26 June 2006, offering information on Shalit if Israel agreed to release all female Palestinian prisoners and all Palestinianprisoners under the age of 18, who were held without charges and triedwithout the right of defense. The statement came from the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the Popular Resistance Committees (which includesmembers of Fatah, Islamic Jihad, and Hamas), and a previously unknowngroup calling itself the Army of Islam. On 14 June 2007 Israel Army Radio published a report that said that the army had received a specific warning on

24 June 2006, the day before Shalit was captured, about a planned capture.According to the report, Israeli security forces entered the Gaza Strip on 24 June 2006 and detained two brothers described as Hamas members. Thereport said that the brothers were transferred to Israel for interrogation, andthat the information extracted formed the basis for the specific warning thatmilitants would try to enter Israel through tunnels to capture soldiersstationed near Gaza. Shalit became the first Israeli soldier captured byPalestinians since Nachshon Wachsman in 1994. His abduction and the

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following cross-border raid by Hezbollah, resulting in the abduction of thebodies Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev into Lebanon, occurred prior to theconflicts in Gaza and Lebanon during summer 2006. Hamas high-rankingcommander Abu Jibril Shimali, whom Israel considers responsible forcoordinating the abduction of Shalit, was killed during the violent clashesbetween Hamas and the al-Qaida-affiliated Jund Ansar Allah organization inGaza in August 2009.

Rescue attempts/Israeli forces entered Khan Yunis on 28 June 2006 tosearch for Shalit. According to David Siegel, a spokesman at the Israeliembassy in Washington, D.C., “Israel did everything it could in exhausting alldiplomatic options and gave Mahmoud Abbas the opportunity to return theabducted Israeli… This operation can be terminated immediately,

conditioned on the release of Gilad Shalit. On the same day, four Israeli AirForce aircraft flew over Syrian President Bashar Assad's palace in Latakia, asan IDF spokesperson said that Israel views the Syrian leadership as a sponsorof Hamas. The operation did not succeed in finding Shalit. On 29 June, thecommander of the Israeli Southern Command, Aluf   Yoav Galant, confirmedthat Shalit was still in Gaza. Israel's Minister of Justice, Haim Ramon, addedthat Shalit was being held in southern Gaza, specifically. The militarycorrespondent for the Israel Broadcasting Authority said that Shalit wasbeing held captive in Rafah, and that there was indication that he was stillalive. However, IDF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Miri Regev said: “we are notconvinced he is being held in southern Gaza… only that he is being held in

Gaza” 

On 1 July, the BBC reported that Shalit had been treated by aPalestinian doctor for a broken hand and a light shoulder wound. Israeligovernmental authorities threatened that the “sky will fall” if Shalit isharmed. On the same day, Shalit's captors issued another demand to theIsraelis, demanding that Israel release an additional 1,000 Palestinianprisoners (in addition to all female and young prisoners, as previouslydemanded) and end Israel's incursions into Gaza. Two days later, the captorsissued a 24-hour ultimatum for meeting their demands, threateningunspecified consequences if Israel refused. Hours after the ultimatum wasissued, Israel officially rejected the demands, stating that: "there will be nonegotiations to release prisoners".

Diplomatic efforts/After Shalit's capture, the Papal Nuncio to Israel,Archbishop Antonio Franco, made an unsuccessful attempt to secure Shalit'srelease via the Catholic Church's Gaza-based parish. In September 2006,Egyptian mediators received a letter written by Shalit in which he wrote thathe was alive and well. The handwriting was confirmed to be that of Shalit. InOctober, Egypt was also reported to be negotiating with Hamas on behalf of Israel for Shalit's release. On 28 October 2006, the Popular Resistance

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Committees (PRC) said in a statement that all three parties had agreed to aproposal by Egyptian mediators regarding Shalit's release. The PRC did notprovide details, but said that the Egyptian proposal would include the releaseof Palestinians held by Israel. It was the first time since Shalit's capture thatany of the factions indicated that his release might be imminent. InNovember 2006, Hamas leader Khaled Mashal indicated that Shalit was aliveand in good health. On 9 January 2007, Abu Mujahed, a spokesman for thecaptors, asserted that Shalit “has not been harmed at all ... He is beingtreated in accordance with Islamic values regulating the treatment of prisoners of war.” However, he threatened, “We have managed to keep thesoldier in captivity for six months and we have no problem keeping him foryears.”On 17 January 2007, one of the captor groups, the Army of Islam headed by Mumtaz Dormush, claimed that Shalit was held exclusively byHamas. On 8 March 2007, The Jerusalem Post reported that an agreementhad been reached with Hamas over the number of prisoners Israel wouldrelease in return for Shalit. Israel and Hamas were still negotiating specificprisoners that Hamas wanted freed in return for Shalit.

On 7 April 2007, it was reported that Shalit's captors had transferred toIsrael, through Egyptian mediators, a list of Palestinian prisoners theywanted freed. The list included approximately 1,300 names, some of whichwere high-ranking Fatah members. On 4 February 2008, it was reported thatHamas had sent Shalit's family a second letter written by him. Thehandwriting was confirmed to be that of Shalit. On 25 June 2007, a year afterShalit's capture, the military wing of Hamas, Iz a-Din al-Qassam, released anaudio tape in which Shalit is heard sending a message to his family, friends,and the Israeli government and army, and appealing for a prisoner-swap dealto be reached to secure his release. Shalit said that his medical condition

was deteriorating, and that he required immediate and lengthyhospitalization. Gilad's father Noam Shalit met with former United StatesPresident Jimmy Carter during Carter's April 2008 visit to Israel. Carterplanned to visit Khaled Meshal of Hamas in Damascus later. Noam Shalit saidthat the fact that Carter is not considered pro-Israel could be beneficial insecuring his son's release. On 9 June 2008, it was reported that Hamas sentShalit's family a third letter. The group had promised to send them a thirdletter after mediation from Carter. The handwriting was confirmed to beShalit's. On 12 August 2008, Hamas said that it was suspending talks onShalit's release, demanding a complete lifting of the Israeli siege. Thedecision angered Egypt, a mediator for Shalit's release. Hamas criticized the

Egyptians for linking the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Shalit'srelease, a condition to which Hamas refuses to agree. On 20 August 2008, inhis briefing to the United Nations Security Council, the Under-Secretary-General of the UN appeared to link the decision to release 200 Palestinianprisoners to the case, though the Hamas spokesman saw it as an attempt tostrengthen Palestinian internal divisions by releasing only those loyal to theFatah faction. On May 11, 2010, the president of Russia Dmitry Medvedev called for Gilad Shalit to be freed "as soon as possible". He made the call

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while meeting Hamas leaders in Damascus, Syria. "The Russian presidenturged solving the problem of releasing Israeli citizen Gilad Shalit as soon aspossible," spokeswoman Natalya Timakova said. Russia is the only countrythat has direct dialogue with Hamas. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaalreportedly said they would only consider releasing the soldier when Israelresumed talks to free Palestinian prisoners. PA President Mahmoud Abbascalled for the release of Shalit in a press conference with visiting GermanPresident Christian Wulff .

Negotiations for release/ Shalit's father had blamed the US for blocking

talks on his son's release. Netanyahu responded to a pilgrimage

march, called by Shalit's father for his release by saying he is willing to

release 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit, but that top

Hamas leaders would not be among those released. In early 2011,

Egyptian-moderated negotiations continued between the Israeli

government, represented by David Meidan, and Hamas, represented

by Ahmed Jabari. Haaretz reported that Meidan proposed a prisoner

swap and threatened that if Hamas rejected this proposal, no swap

would occur; Hamas responded by warning that an end to negotiations

would lead to Shalit's "disappearance." Negotiations were hung up

over disagreements between the two parties regarding Israel's

unwillingness to release all of the so-called "senior prisoners" into the

West Bank—a demand Hamas rejects—and regarding the particulars of 

releasing prisoners who were leaders of Hamas and other

organizations.

Release deal reached/ On October 11, 2011 the Al Arabiya networkfirst reported that Israel and Hamas reached an agreement on Gilad

Shalit. Netanyahu convened a special Cabinet meeting to approve the

layout of the Shalit deal. Shalit's release negotiations include the

release of 1,027 Hamas and Palestinian prisoners by Israel.

MORAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES:

It is well known in the world moral and ethical values when it comes to the

fight of our IDF forces whether it is limited army operation or war. The verysame values apply when there are our prisoners involved since there is no

other army in this world which went into the military actions on the large

scale as we did for our prisoners captured in Lebanon and Gil’ad Shalit in

Gaza Strip. Also whoever knows little bit more about sophisticated and

dangerous operations our army is taking whenever there are wounded

soldiers in the actions, and no matter which great risks such actions

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involved? That was the base of our IDF since its existence and we all Israelis

are very proud of it. Also every soldier who goes into the Army knows that

his Army and his country will do anything to save him or to bring him back

into safe, no matter where he is. The very same values apply for Israeli

citizens and just remember action in Entebbe, where our planes went

thousands of kilometers into unknown with Special Forces to free hostages

taken by the terrorists. But this is sometime sword with two edges as in the

case when terrorists have some of our man and they know that sooner orlater Israel will compromise and give whatever they asked for. They have

patience we don’t because of the tremendous public pressure which has

been created in this case when even huge money price was offered to

anybody whose information will lead to the place where is Gil’ad kept

hidden. And all this crap said by our Government, at the very beginning, that

no prisoner with Jewish blood on his hands will be released ever is now proof 

that there is no clear policy, no dignity and neither principles when it comes

to the Jewish life. It is not only about public pressure, it is also because we

know very well how other side have been treated our previous captures. And

tortures they passed from the multiple rapes, daily beating, electrification of their genitals, pulling their nails and other atrocities which are hard to

describe to any humans. Therefore when there is a leader who needs to take

all this into consideration I’m sure that there is a breaking point where even

he will band down and compromise, forgetting and regretting everything he

ever said before. There is also another point here and it is failure of the army

mission in the first place where someone has to take responsibility for

capture of Gil’ad.

Because if State of Israel will not save its soldier, who went to fight

for that very State of Israel risking his own life, WHO WILL? That is a

question every leader and/or army officer will ask himself when it comes to

the future path, as a sample they need to create for any other potential

Israeli soldier in the future. Because if they failed in one case as Gil’ad Shalit

there will be small grain of suspicion to anybody else who will go to serve IDF

in the future. AND THAT IS SOMETHING WHICH MADE BRAKING POINT

AND COMPROMISE NOW AFTER WHOLE 5 YRS OF CAPTURE,NEGOTIATIONS, DIPLOMACY, PRACTICAL EFFORTS etc…!!!

CONTRADICTORY :

When Hamas got Gil’ad, and when negotiations started shortly after hiscapture, they asked for 1,000 prisoners but Israel refused. After few yrs.when they asked Israel to release female and young prisoners in exchange to

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the video tape, where Israel will see Gil’ad for the first time and get someassurance that he is still alive and not injured, Israel agreed and those 20female prisoners were released!!! There has not been a single change inHamas demand from the very begging when they asked for 1,000 prisoners.But our “smart assholes” said then that no terrorist will be releasedwith Jewish blood on his/her hands!!! Today they are releasing 280of terrorists with life sentences!!! What does it mean if these terroristswill not be able to enter Israel or territories under our control but Gaza Striponly? You are releasing master minds of all murderers and their planners aswell as their affiliates who will soon from Gaza Strip make their anothermaster-minded action which will be on the large scale nobody ever cannotpredict. And especially now when they “graduated” Academy of sophisticated Crime In our prisons!!! These people were not caught by callingthem on mobile phones and picking them up in the buses to the prisons!!! They were parts of so many actions where our special forces went and riskedtheir life to catch them. What about them? How many of them were injuredduring those raids on the terrorists? How many of them died? How much of our tax money were paid to informers to get all those 1,000 + bastards? Andhow many we had to bring with families into Israel since they were “burned”

there after their “informative careers”!!!I’m sure that those actions were nottaken into considerations for the final release of Gil’ad soon!!!

I truly hope that these words of my suspicions are all products of my richarchitectural fantasy of factious brain and nothing ever will happen here…BUT WHAT IF???

WHO WILL THEN BE ABLE TO MAKE IREVERSABLE…? AS NOW IT’STIME TO SAY- ISRAEL WAKE UP BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!!!

© 2011 Copyright by David Strossmayer

Sources: IDF, Galgalatz, Wikipedia