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ISRAEL: Leaving a man behind?

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It’s been 900 days and counting since Israeli army soldier Gilad Shalit was captured in a cross-border raid and became a hostage somewhere in the Gaza Strip.

Since then, Shalit’s name has never been far from the headlines, as his family has consistently pressured Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to do more to bring Shalit home. The issue holds special resonance in Israeli society, which places a premium on bringing home captured soldiers as well as the remains of those killed in battle.

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This week, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni kicked over a hornet’s nest by suggesting that it may be impossible to bring back Shalit safely.

‘We can’t always bring our troops home,’ Livni said in a speech before a group of high school students in Tel Aviv. ‘We all want Gilad to come back home, but part of the willingness to fight is the understanding that we don’t have any other choice. There is always a risk of casualties, and it’s not always possible to bring everyone back home.’

Reaction was swift and angry.

On Friday, a group of protesters gathered outside Livni’s Tel Aviv home. A second protest group has set up a round-the-clock vigil outside Olmert’s home, demanding that he do something decisive to bring back Shalit before leaving office next spring.

But Israel faces a host of unpalatable options. Third-party negotiations via Egypt have gone nowhere, with both Hamas officials and Cairo starting to trade accusations of stubbornness. And despite occasional calls in Israel for a large-scale incursion and rescue operation, such a move would be complicated and potentially bloody and would almost certainly endanger Shalit’s life.

-- Ashraf Khalil in Jerusalem

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