[Israel Prime Minister's Office ] Prime Minister Olmert told the Cabinet on Sunday: Our approach to the release of living soldiers must be different than our approach to bringing back soldiers who are no longer alive. As far as we know - two soldiers, Udi Goldwasser and Eldad Regev - are no longer alive. As far as we know, they were killed during the kidnapping or died from their wounds soon after the incident. We live in a region in which the rules of the game and the basic human patterns of behavior according to which we act are not shared in our environment. For several years, alongside the completely understood emotion of the families of the kidnapped soldiers, there is a gnawing doubt that this same expression of our obligation [to return our soldiers], at almost any cost, is an incentive to continue this pattern of kidnappings, of blackmail, of undermining our internal morale, of an attempt to forcibly erode our deterrence capability, and eventually our ability to withstand the challenges which we will continue to face, against the enmity, the extreme fanaticism and the cruelty of our neighbors. The strength of the pain over returning our dead will not be less than the feeling of affront from the celebrations that will be held by the opposing side. I hope that the satisfaction that comes from the resolution of the doubts of the Regev and Goldwasser families will grant us the peace of mind and perhaps the comfort that we must take this step. This will bring an end to this painful episode - even at the painful price it costs us.
2008-06-30 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive