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As
the battle in Gaza wages on, one soldier must remain in our minds.
Gilad Shalit was kidnapped by Arab terrorists on June 25, 2006, and has
been held hostage by the Hamas in Gaza ever since. Gilad Shalit’s
family received three letters from him via Hamas, the last on June 9,
2008. Hamas repeatedly brings up Shalit in the hopes of negotiating a
deal for the release of an enormous amount of Palestinian prisoners in
Israel.
Gilad
Shalit should be getting out of the army around now, thinking about
what career path to choose and what university to study in. Instead he
is sitting in a Gazan prison for an indefinite amount of time. These
days he is listening to the sound of bombs being rained down on Gaza.
He must be wondering how this latest conflict will affect his welfare.
Will it speed up his return to Israel or endanger his life?
The
current battle in Gaza was not undertaken in order to save Shalit. The
Second Lebanon War failed at bringing him back, as did diplomatic
attempts by Israel and France (he is also a French citizen) over the
last few years. Although Olmert mentioned in his initial speech after
the bombing of Gaza began that his heart is with the Shalit family, it
is not clear whether precautions have been taken to safeguard him while
Israel defends its borders from terrorism.
Israel
does not attack its neighbors lightly; remarkable restraint has been
exercised over the last eight years while Hamas shelled the southern
towns and cities of Israel almost daily. Israel has chosen to defend
the citizens of Sderot, Netivot, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Beer Sheva and Shaar
HaNegev. It may be that the life of one soldier is endangered by this
decision.
Supporters
of Israel hope and pray that the opposite is true and that this
operation ends with the triumphant return of Gilad Shalit to his family
and to his homeland.
http://zionismandisrael.wordpress.com/
