“Israelis” shy away from tough talk on capture

Source: Gulf-news, 27-6-2006
JERUSALEM (AL-QUDS): There were no wisecracks when the host of a usually irreverent current affairs show on "Israel's" Army Radio turned to the capture of a soldier by gunmen from Gaza.
"When you die, it's not your problem any more," said presenter Avri Gilad. "But when you get captured, it's a predicament so extreme, like dying again and again."
While "Israel's" government issued ultimatums to the Palestinians to return Corporal Gilad Shalit, 19, who was captured during a deadly cross-border raid on Sunday, many ordinary settlers shied away from tough talk.
Some "Israelis" took comfort from reports that Shalit was alive, though possibly hurt.
But with "Israel's" refusal to negotiate with the Hamas-led Palestinian government and its threats of military action, there were fears for Shalit's safety.
"It's an enormous trauma, and the most difficult thing to deal with is the uncertainty," said Zippora Avitan, whose son Adi was killed and taken away by Hizbullah guerrillas while serving as an "Israeli" soldier on the Lebanese border in 2000.
Only after three years of negotiations through German mediators did it emerge that Adi Avitan and two other "Israeli" troops taken by Hizbullah were dead. Their remains were recovered after "Israel" released hundreds of Arab prisoners.
In Shalit's case, "Israeli" officials were quick to rule out a prisoner swap - a move decried by the left-wing opposition.
"We negotiated to recover our soldiers in the past, and we should do so again," said Ran Cohen of the liberal Meretz party.
On the radio show, Gilad said Shalit's capture "trampled on our public pride".