Noam Shalit: Turn regrets into action

Father of Hamas captive says outgoing Shin Bet chief's regrets over his son 'too little, too late'

Ahiya Raved|Published: 05.04.11 , 20:19

Noam Shalit, father of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, was unimpressed Wednesday with outgoing Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin's regrets that he was unable to secure his son's rescue from Hamas during his term in office.

Earlier, Diskin said: "I haven’t been able to get (Gilad) back, be it through an operation or negotiations. This failure is my responsibility. I am saddened that Gilad is not with us."

Shalit dismissed the statement and sentiment as "too little, too late," saying that "Gilad solely is bearing the burden of these failures for the past five years."

The captive's father stresses the he expected actions, not just words: "My family and I regret that the people in charge of all the failures since the abduction have yet to translate their feelings of responsibility into actions."

According to Disking, the Shin Bet has been heading the case since the abduction, but despite having a special task force in place and investing resources and means, "At the end of the day we failed.

"It is true that we have some abilities in the Gaza Strip, but we still came up short, which suggests a certain gap," Diskin said.

Gilad Shalit has been held in Hamas captivity for 1,774 days