'Don't give me fairy tales'

Father of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit calls on government to do more to free son

9 September 2007

by Yaakov Lappin

Noam Shalit, whose son Gilad was abducted last year during a Palestinian assault on an IDF position, called on the Israeli government to show "creativity and consistency" in finding channels to secure his son's release, during a speech on Sunday to a Herzliya counter-terrorism conference.

"To decision makers I say, don't give me fairy tales on the need to establish deterrence, on the back of a single 19-year-old soldier," Shalit said.

"Israel must operate in all ways to free him, and show consistency and creativity. And if any channel is not working, switch to a second channel," he added.

Shalit added that every IDF soldier placed on Israel's borders "should be worried" following the kidnapping of his son, and expressed disappointment with Israel's government for failing to free his son.

Shalit cited the IDF doctrine which calls for the utmost effort to retrieve soldiers behind enemy lines, "whether they have been wounded, killed, or taken captive," adding that most of last week's medals of valor given to IDF soldiers who served in the Second Lebanon War were distributed for rescue operations under fire.