Both the Shalit family and Olmert have had a very difficult time with this affair. They face a cruel and heartless enemy that revels in inflicting pain. Mr Shalit has the task of getting his son back at any cost. I don’t agree with everything that he says but I can understand that he has to do whatever he can. Mr Olmert has to view this as only a part of his attempt to deal with Gaza.
It’s my opinion that Olmert hasn’t done enough to deal with Hamas in Gaza and to return the soldier. For Hamas the soldier is a talisman that they see as preventing an Operation Defensive Shield 2. It would be better if they saw his captivity as attracting such an operation.
Probably 1000 Gazans have died in the two years that they’ve held the soldier, more or less as a result of holding this hostage. It doesn’t seem like Hamas cares how many of their own die.
It’s hard to believe that in 2 years the Mossad hasn’t been able to find out where he’s being held or been able to capture someone who knows where he’s being held.
