Prime Minister Netanyahu has appointed former Mossad official Hagai Hadas to the position of Israel's new envoy to the negotiations for the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.
According to the Prime Minister's Office, the government was also establishing a special public committee to assist and oversee the new negotiator's work. The committee, which will be chaired by the prime minister, includes Foreign
Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Minister for Strategic Affairs Moshe Yaalon, Minister for Intelligence Services Dan Meridor, Minister-without-Portfolio Yossi Peled and Kadima MK Yisrael Hasson.
Its six members represent all major coalition partners and the opposition. "Schalit is not a political issue," a PMO source said of the committee.
It also contains a high concentration of security expertise, including two former IDF chiefs of staff (Barak and Yaalon), a former IDF OC Central Command (Peled) and a former deputy head of the Shin Bet (Hasson).
Hadas, 56, is one of Israel's most experienced intelligence men, having served for decades in senior operational roles in the Mossad. He retired
from one of the espionage agency's top posts in 2006 and founded an internet start-up company.
