On Saturday, Zvi Shalit, grandfather of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, told an audience at a rally that Defense Minister Ehud Barak told him he supports the current proposed deal for Gilad's release, although Benjamin Netanyahu opposes it. Barak has denied saying that. If he hadn't denied that, it would have been an indication of the damaging way the government operates, and in particular the way the Shalit case is being handled. In principle, ministers are not supposed to oppose government policies. The Shalit family can get away with anything. Every citizen has a right to pressure the government. The way I see it, there is something puzzling about public figures entering symbolic plastic jail cells to express their sympathy with the beloved Gilad, who is rotting away in a real dark cell, without receiving a single visit by the Red Cross. A public figure in a sympathy cell resembles one who participates in a hunger strike for one hour. All the individual hours are meant to constitute an entire day. But if this gimmick could do something to help Shalit's cause, then by all means... During Ehud Olmert's tenure, and later during Netanyahu's term, Israel stated that it was prepared to pay a higher price for Shalit's release than any other country would. Perhaps that policy has backfired by enticing Hamas to raise the stakes even higher. Despite this, the negotiations appear to be nearing an end. The German-French proposal to compensate Hamas with hundreds of millions of Euros is a clear capitulation on the part of Europe, and perhaps also on the part of Israel, who has remained silent on the matter. But I live where I live, and here in Israel the strength of its democracy is also its weakness, and it will not at all be easy to stop this train. The price to pay for stopping it will be much greater than letting it reach its destination on its own. No matter where this train is headed, the main thing will always be to present a unified front in the negotiations. The Shalit tragedy is not only felt by Gilad and his family, but also remains a debacle for the security services who have not managed to come up with a solution to the abduction that took place five years ago. It's time to bring this sad episode to an end, and to forget about it - until the next time ...
