The government on Monday named an official to work for the return of three kidnapped IDF soldiers more than a month after their abduction and after a vow to condition a cease fire on their release.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave former Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) deputy Chief Ofer Dekel the task of finding a way to bring back Gilad Shalit (kidnapped by Hamas operatives in Gaza) and Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser (kidnapped by Hizbullah terrorists on the northern border with Lebanon).
The appointment came in the face of public criticism that the return of the captives is not mandated in the text of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, the ceasefire agreement between Hizbullah and Israel.
Israel backed off from a previous commitment that any cease fire agreement would be based on the unconditional release of the two soldiers abducted by Hizbullah terrorists. American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Minister Amir Peretz echoed the same policy.
However, Israel implemented the ceasefire agreement in southern Lebanon on Monday morning without insisting on the return of the IDF hostages.
In a speech to the nation delivered on Monday, Olmert explained his actions by saying, "I believe that the realization of Resolution 1701 creates favorable conditions for their return. We intend to insist on the application of the decision and monitor it closely, and in case of it being violated – we reserve the right to respond."
He did not refer to his previous promises of conditioning the cease fire on the release of captives.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Sunday that Israel would negotiate for the release of the two soldiers whose capture by Hezbollah militants on July 12 sparked the offensive in Lebanon. It marked the first time that an Israeli official publicly said that the Jewish state would negotiate for the release of the pair.
Hizbullah terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah said Monday night that he rejected the idea of returning the soldiers before Israel release Lebanese prisoners.
The cabinet, led by Olmert, voted on Sunday to accept the U.N. resolution. The only member of the Israeli cabinet who did not vote to accept it was Transportation and Road Safety Minister Shaul Mofaz, who said the issue of the missing soldiers partly motivated his decision to abstain during the vote. "We cannot decide on the return of our soldiers and then have a ceasefire that does not refer to the issue," he said.
Mofaz also pointed out that the resolution did not address one other issue that Olmert said would be a precondition for any ceasefire -- implementation of Resolution 1559, passed in 2004, which disallowed the presence of any military force in southern Lebanon other than the Lebanese Army. "The resolution doesn't state clearly that Hezbollah should be dismantled and therefore it will not be disarmed," Mofaz said. "Any other state against which 4,000 rockets are fired would not have accepted such a wording."
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave former Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) deputy Chief Ofer Dekel the task of finding a way to bring back Gilad Shalit (kidnapped by Hamas operatives in Gaza) and Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser (kidnapped by Hizbullah terrorists on the northern border with Lebanon).
The appointment came in the face of public criticism that the return of the captives is not mandated in the text of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, the ceasefire agreement between Hizbullah and Israel.
Israel backed off from a previous commitment that any cease fire agreement would be based on the unconditional release of the two soldiers abducted by Hizbullah terrorists. American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Minister Amir Peretz echoed the same policy.
However, Israel implemented the ceasefire agreement in southern Lebanon on Monday morning without insisting on the return of the IDF hostages.
In a speech to the nation delivered on Monday, Olmert explained his actions by saying, "I believe that the realization of Resolution 1701 creates favorable conditions for their return. We intend to insist on the application of the decision and monitor it closely, and in case of it being violated – we reserve the right to respond."
He did not refer to his previous promises of conditioning the cease fire on the release of captives.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Sunday that Israel would negotiate for the release of the two soldiers whose capture by Hezbollah militants on July 12 sparked the offensive in Lebanon. It marked the first time that an Israeli official publicly said that the Jewish state would negotiate for the release of the pair.
Hizbullah terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah said Monday night that he rejected the idea of returning the soldiers before Israel release Lebanese prisoners.
The cabinet, led by Olmert, voted on Sunday to accept the U.N. resolution. The only member of the Israeli cabinet who did not vote to accept it was Transportation and Road Safety Minister Shaul Mofaz, who said the issue of the missing soldiers partly motivated his decision to abstain during the vote. "We cannot decide on the return of our soldiers and then have a ceasefire that does not refer to the issue," he said.
Mofaz also pointed out that the resolution did not address one other issue that Olmert said would be a precondition for any ceasefire -- implementation of Resolution 1559, passed in 2004, which disallowed the presence of any military force in southern Lebanon other than the Lebanese Army. "The resolution doesn't state clearly that Hezbollah should be dismantled and therefore it will not be disarmed," Mofaz said. "Any other state against which 4,000 rockets are fired would not have accepted such a wording."