Noam Shalit and family cannot be blamed - they have to do whatever they can to obtain their son's freedom - but they are marching on Jerusalem and telling the Prime Minister that he must do everything he can to release Gilad, and that includes releasing however many prisoners, of whatever type, Hamas demands. Again, the Shalit family has that right and even obligation to make such demands (the PM has the obligation to make difficult decisions either way, and if necessary be prepared to tell the Shalit family that the price is too high to bear).
Today, the family members in Gaza of Hamas prisoners held a rally in support of Hamas, telling Hamas that they support the Hamas position and Hamas should not give an inch and their relatives can sit in jail longer as long as Hamas demands and makes no deal until all prisoners are included.
So it turns out Shalit and Hamas are both on the same side. They both want all Hamas prisoners released in exchange for Gilad. Hamas and Gaza want the Arab prisoners to sit in jail longer to get that and Shalit wants his son to sit in jail less to get that, but at the end of the day both Shalit and Hamas are on the same page.
Without agreeing with the campaign, I can understand the logic in it.
ReplyDeleteNetanyahu is perceived as a weak character who makes nice speeches but bows under pressure. Also the wide government coalition makes the decision making process almost impossible if you dont want to alienate your partners. So you become reactive and take decisions only when some outside body forces you to take a stand.
So why should the Shalit family be the nice guy, and give up on their son when tomorrow the same prisoners will be freed because some other outside pressure from the international community for example as a gesture to Abu Mazen or whatever concession from the other side or to appease world opinion.
People just do not believe that decisions are made according to principles or red lines, so why should the Shalit family act differently.Politicians are seen as acting only for they own survival or interest.