There is a growing impression among observers in Palestine-Israel that Israel may be preparing a “rescue operation” to free Gilad Shalit, the Israeli occupation army soldier who was taken prisoner in Gaza by Palestinian fighters more than two years ago.
Israeli intelligence services claim they know the whereabouts of Shalit, specifically the street in Gaza where he is being held.
However, serious observers here doubt the credibility of these claims, arguing that Israel would have carried out a rescue operation a long time ago had the Israeli intelligence known Shalit’s place of detention.
The rescue operation scenario is described by some Israeli political analysts as “generally politically safe” (if) the operation ends up successfully. Needless to say, “successfully” here means succeeding in liberating Shalit and bringing him back to Israel “alive.”
The Israeli intelligence services have been hunting for every conceivable piece of information that would enable Israel to locate Shalit’s place of captivity.
This week, the Israeli press, quoting anonymous sources, reported that the Shin Bet was offering potential Palestinian informers the sum of $10,000 in return for providing credible and authentic information that would lead to the liberation of Shalit from Hamas’s custody.
However, Palestinian officials scoffed at the latest Israeli feat, calling it “a reflection of frustration and despair.”
Some Israeli security services, relying on information extracted from Gazans rounded up during the repeated Israeli incursions into the Gaza Strip prior to the Egyptian-mediated ceasefire with Hamas, have pointed out that powerful bombs were planted in the vicinity of the building where Shalit is thought to be held.
However, there are certain indications that the current transitional government in Israel may well be willing to carry out a rescue operation regardless of the consequences.
The reason for this somewhat belated determination seems to be linked to the upcoming Israeli elections and the end of the Olmert government’s term in office.
The Kadima party and its erstwhile junior coalition partner, the Labour party, headed by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, realize that with Shalit remaining in captivity in Gaza, Likud leader Benyamin Netanyahu is likely to put them on the defensive and use the issue as an effective propaganda tool in his election campaign.
Hence, a successful or even partly successful rescue operation would serve as a spectacular publicity booster for both the new Kadima leader—Tzipi Livni—and Ehud Barak, the man who would be directly responsible for ordering and overseeing the operation.(http://www.ptimes.org)
BIBIREPORT NOTE: Netanyahu expressed numerous times that in the Gilad Shalit issue there is No Opposition, And that he will back any Plan to bring shalit home, This is the interest of the Israeli public, And the Number 1 interest of all, Not to let any soldier in Danger and captivity, (regardless the timing and the desperation to carry out any mission to gain political points), The security of the Israeli People and its Life shields are more important then any individual.
