Shalit campaign: We're ready to resume activity
Head of campaign for captive soldier's release says activists 'ready to return, make our voices heard'. Hamas source says group may ease demands for swap deal to display success as Abbas admits failure through retirement
Head of the campaign for the release of captive soldier Gilad Shalit Shimshon Libman on Saturday urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to abandon Gilad in Hamas' hands.
Libman said that after many weeks of calm, the campaign headquarters are ready to resume activity calling for the release of the captive soldier.
"Since his family received the videotape showing Gilad, we have been taking quiet steps so as not to disturb and to give the prime minister space, but we are now ready to return and make our voices heard in public," Libman said.
Libman spoke at a bicycle race around the Sea of Galilee, which was dedicated this year by its organizers, the Emek HaYarden Regional Council and private bodies, to the struggle for Shalit's release.
Riding on five tracks, 8,000 cyclists took part in Saturday's event. A short ceremony was held at the end of the track in which Libman spoke. Dozens of Shalit campaign activists took part in the race, adorned with shirts and hats with the soldier's image.
In addition, a source affiliated with the negotiations for Shalit's release told Ynet Saturday that Hamas is expected to take a more positive stance in talks in an attempt to reach a successful deal while Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas admitted failure by retiring from politics.
The source said Hamas was aiming at gaining ground with the Palestinian people and would thus be willing to make sacrifices in regards to the siege on Gaza and the prisoners demanded by the organization in return for the captive soldier.
On Friday, some 70 members of the Shalit campaign headquarters protested outside the Prime Minister's Residence, and urged Netanyahu to push forward with his efforts and not leave the captive soldier behind, despite the release of the videotape by Hamas.
'Netanyahu to meet with German mediator'
Meanwhile, east Jerusalem-based al-Manar newspaper on Thursday reported that the second phase of the Shalit deal was ready for execution. The paper, which had reported in the past that a deal was on the brink of completion, cited sources close to the German mediator as saying there is still no agreed upon deadline for the finalization of the deal.
The report did say, however, that the German efforts were focused on completing the second phase of the deal. According to the report, Netanyahu is holding rounds of talks with coalition heads and is slated to meet with the German mediator in the near future.
The German mediator is slated to arrive in Israel in the near future, accompanied by an Egyptian intelligence official, in hopes of keeping Egypt in the picture.
The first phase of the deal was completed last month, when Israel released 20 female Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a video tape of the captive soldier.
The sources told the paper that the mediator hopes to get Israel's green light for the second phase of the deal in his upcoming visit. The deal includes the released of senior political Hamas prisoners from Israeli jails.
According to al-Manar's sources, talks on the matter are being held in Israel on the level of coalition heads and the limited cabinet.
The report said the path for putting a final end to the Shalit affair has been paved for Netanyahu, but that the third phase of the deal is the most difficult, as it includes the release of 'heavy' Palestinian prisoners.
Nonetheless, the sources said they do not believe it will be long between the completion of the second phase of the deal and that of the third and final phase of the exchange deal.
Still, the sources said it is too soon to talk about a timetable: "The German mediator's upcoming visit to Israel will determine where things are headed."
