Bibi's address re: Gilad Schalit

On the anniversary of Gilad Schalit's fourth year in captivity at the hands of Hamas, and with the whole of Israel fixated on the conclusion of the 12-day Free Gilad March – organized by his parents, Noam and Aviva – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to the national airwaves last Thursday night to give the following address to his country:




It's hard to imagine how to deal with such a situation. As a parent, the phrase "by any means necessary" comes to mind. And I'd certainly be in that mindset if one of my children was taken hostage. There would be no convincing me otherwise. But, if one can, one needs to put themselves in Bibi's position as well.

Thousands of supporters joined the Schalit family on the ninth day of their protest march calling for the release of the abducted IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, rallying in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square. Yellow poster reads "Gilad still lives." [Kfir Sivan/Israel Sun photo]

Last Friday, Hamas rejected Israel's offer to release 1,000 prisoners, none of whom would be permitted in the West Bank and would not include mass murderers, as Netanyahu said. And so Gilad continues to languish... somewhere. No one has ever been allowed to see him and verify his well-being. Save for this video release of him reading a newspaper on Sept. 14, 2009, there's been no communication from his captors about his state of health or location.

The Schalits and Netanyahu will likely meet again later this month after Gilad's parents camp out in front of Netanyahu's residence to protest the government's refusal to meet all demands from Hamas in exchange for Gilad's freedom.

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