Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday afternoon that he would bring a proposal for advancing the release of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit to the security cabinet on Wednesday. He made the announcement during a meeting with an American congressional delegation headed by Senator Benjamin Cardin of Maryland.
The prime minister said his proposal is intended to strengthen efforts to reduce the smuggling of weapons into the hands of terrorist groups in Gaza. He stressed that the release of Shalit was the key to advancing understandings that would guarantee quiet to southern Israel.