Shalit Family Marches to Jerusalem

The family of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier now held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza for over four years following a cross border kidnapping, is on a twelve day march to the official residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and plans to camp out there until Gilad is returned home.

I commend their efforts, though I worry that they may be for nothing.  Israel has been in negotiations to return Shalit for years, and Hamas has hardly made an offer.  I have read that Hamas demanded a laundry list of dangerous, murdering terrorists.  I saw several times that deals were imminent.  However, nothing has happened.

Hamas presented video evidence that Shalit is still alive last October.  With that knowledge, and little power, what else can Shalit’s family do?  They have an entire country’s support.  Jewish people around the world would love to see him returned home safely.

Each day, it seems less and less likely that Gilad Shalit will ever return home.  I hope his fate is better than the soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah.  Their bodies were returned to Israel in July, 2008.

So, for now, I am quietly cheering for Shalit’s family to be successful in pressuring the government to return Gilad Shalit home.  I am not going to get too excited about this publicity move, but I have to hope.  After all, that is what hatikva is all about.