| Submit your comments on this article |
| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Ministers: Israel needs to be more flexible with Hamas over Shalit talks |
| 2008-07-21 |
| Israel will have to show greater flexibility in its negotiations with Hamas in order to free Gilad Shalit, said ministers who participated in cabinet deliberations on the matter Sunday with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Meanwhile, a Hamas delegation from the Gaza Strip is expected to visit Cairo later this week in order to discuss an Egyptian proposal to renew the indirect negotiations between the two sides. If there is progress in the talks between senior Egyptian intelligence officials and Hamas representatives, Israeli negotiator Ofer Dekel will also travel to Cairo for talks next week. Olmert is likely to resume cabinet discussions on the criteria for which Palestinian prisoners can be released in exchange for Shalit, the Israel Defense Forces soldier who was abducted from Israeli territory two years ago. A similar discussion took place six months ago, headed by Vice Premier Haim Ramon. Security and political sources said Sunday that the restrictions on the prisoner criteria must be relaxed in order to achieve progress on the talks. To date, Israel has agreed to release 71 of the hundreds of people proposed by Hamas. Ministers involved say they have no illusions of reaching an agreement unless dozens of prisoners sentenced to life are released - including those who were involved in serious terrorist operations. Israel is also hoping that Egypt will increase its pressure on Hamas to be more flexible. Defense Minister Ehud Barak believes that it is important to utilize the tahadiyeh (cease-fire) in order to push through a deal for Shalit. During discussions Sunday, Barak said he believed a gag order might be necessary, because Hamas may try to use the Israeli media in its bargaining. This comes following the recent negotiations for reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, Barak explained, as well as "loose talk" from ministers who stated that Hamas will up its demands in exchange for Shalit. "It is essential to impose a heavy curtain of censorship in order to bring Gilad [Shalit] home," Barak said yesterday. "We must not conduct this struggle with our cards open - it gives a significant and unjustified advantage to the other side." Meanwhile, former United States President Jimmy Carter is trying to achieve a breakthrough in the negotiations over Shalit's release. A senior adviser to Carter, Robert Pastor, visited Israel last week, as part of a regional tour that included visits to the Gaza Strip, Damascus and Cairo. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 Its easy to tell who is Gumby and who is Pokey. Hey Barak, does tahadiyeh translate into Thai? |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2008-07-21 17:38 |
| #2 And by being more flexible, do they mean bending over further? |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-07-21 10:30 |
| #1 This would be a good time to revise the state policy on prisoner swaps. They have one israeli soldier, tell them to pick any one prisoner they want. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-07-21 07:02 |