Gilad Shalit's father: I would kidnap Israelis if I were Palestinian

Row erupts after comments by Israeli election hopeful Noam Shalit, whose son was held in captivity by Hamas for five years


Phoebe Greenwood in Jerusalem
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guardian.co.uk,

Thursday 15 March 2012 15.25 GMT


The father of an Israeli soldier held in captivity for more than five years by Hamas has said he would kidnap Israeli soldiers if he were a Palestinian.

Noam
Shalit, who announced earlier this year that he would be standing for
the opposition Labour party in the next Israeli elections, has provoked
outrage among the Israeli right with the comments. His son, Gilad, was
released in a prisoner swap in October 2011.Shalit
added that the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers by Hamas militants was
comparable to the techniques used by Israeli paramilitary fighters the
Haganah against the British, arguing "we also kidnapped British soldiers
when we were fighting for our freedom".Speaking to a television
interviewer in the kitchen of the Shalit family home, a familiar
backdrop for the Israeli public from the family's five-year campaign for
their son's release, Shalit was subject to repeated questioning
attempting to pin him down on his political policies.The former
engineer eventually summarised his key campaign issues as "mutual
responsibility. And not leaving soldiers behind or any Israeli who is in
any trouble." He also said he would be prepared to negotiate with Hamas
if he were an MP, something the Israeli government, along with Britain
and the US, refuses to do."I am in favour of speaking to anyone
who wants to talk to us," he said. When asked whether he would negotiate
with a Hamas government headed by his son's kidnapper, he maintained:
"If they change their ways and are willing to recognise Israel as a Jewish state, yes, I would shake his hand."While
acknowledging Binyamin Netanyahu's role in securing his son's release,
he criticised the Israeli prime minister for not acting more swiftly.
Shalit suggested economic sanctions should have been imposed on the Gaza
Strip. "As soon as they capture an Israeli soldier and are not willing
to release him and asking for such a price, you should put the pressure
on them including stopping the transfer of money," he said.Shalit
went on to dismiss as "pathetic" the counter-argument that Netanyahu
had "brought Gilad home", a decision that carried a significant
political risk given the necessary release of thousands of Palestinian
prisoners in exchange."Netanyahu saw that more than 70%,
sometimes 80%, of the public wanted the deal [to release Gilad] and he
realised the public would not accept another Ron Arad [missing Israeli
pilot captured in Lebanon]," Shalit said.An official from within
the Israeli prime minister's office refused to give an official response
to Shalit's comments but pointed to his recent emergence as a candidate
for the opposition, recommending "his comments should be taken in that
context".http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/15/gilad-shalit-father-kidnap-israel?newsfeed=true