(Jpost).The Campaign to Free Gilad on Tuesday evening responded harshly to comments Defense Minister Ehud Barak made earlier in the day at a school in the South. The defense minister had said, "Don't whine," in response to an 11th-grade student who asked on Tuesday whether the state could ensure his safety if he fell captive as an IDF soldier like Gilad Schalit.
"We're not whining, we're fighting for Gilad's life," the campaign declared.
Barak's words are very serious given that he said them in front of high school students, the campaign said, adding that three years after the kidnapping, it would have expected Barak to act like a leader.
"I don't recommend that you, or any youngster in this nation, think in terms of whining. Nor should you doubt the state's direction and its commitment to society," Barak had said, speaking to students in the Eshkol Regional Council as he toured southern border schools on the first day of classes.
Barak told sixth-graders in Sha'ar Hanegev and 11th- graders in the Eshkol region that while the state would do its utmost for them, it would not always be able to protect them,To the 11th-grade student who worried what would happen to him, as a future IDF soldier, if he was kidnapped, Barak said:
"The state cannot even guarantee your life when you're in the army."
"The State of Israel exists in a region that shows no mercy for the weak. There are no second chances here for those who do not know how to defend themselves. Although it is not desirable, a society that is not willing, when necessary, to risk or sacrifice lives won't endure and won't survive. This is not Western Europe or North America," Barak said.
"We're not whining, we're fighting for Gilad's life," the campaign declared.
Barak's words are very serious given that he said them in front of high school students, the campaign said, adding that three years after the kidnapping, it would have expected Barak to act like a leader.
"I don't recommend that you, or any youngster in this nation, think in terms of whining. Nor should you doubt the state's direction and its commitment to society," Barak had said, speaking to students in the Eshkol Regional Council as he toured southern border schools on the first day of classes.
Barak told sixth-graders in Sha'ar Hanegev and 11th- graders in the Eshkol region that while the state would do its utmost for them, it would not always be able to protect them,To the 11th-grade student who worried what would happen to him, as a future IDF soldier, if he was kidnapped, Barak said:
"The state cannot even guarantee your life when you're in the army."
"The State of Israel exists in a region that shows no mercy for the weak. There are no second chances here for those who do not know how to defend themselves. Although it is not desirable, a society that is not willing, when necessary, to risk or sacrifice lives won't endure and won't survive. This is not Western Europe or North America," Barak said.
