The mother of murdered IDF soldier Nachshon Wachsman has offered to support the release of her son's killer in exchange for the life of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.
Esther Wachsman, whose son was kidnapped by Hamas gunmen and killed during a commando rescue mission in 1994, said in an interview on Channel 2 television Thursday night that she told Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, "If Gilad comes home, [they can] give them my son's murderer. I give up on the murderer of my son. My Nachson will forgive me."
The bereaved mother added, "I cannot imagine what it is like to know how bad things are for your son for 900 days. After I saw what happened to Gilad Shalit, I was actually happy that my tragic story ended quickly," she said.
Hamas Learning from Hizbullah
Thursday was Shalit's 900th day being held captive by the Hamas terrorists who kidnapped him during a cross-border raid near the Kerem Shalom Crossing with Gaza on June 25, 2006.
Repeated attempts to negotiate a prisoner swap with the terrorists have all ended in failure, regardless of who mediated the discussions or which conditions were attached. Ongoing negotiations brokered by Egypt have been fruitless, with Hamas periodically changing its demands for terrorists to be swapped for Shalit's release.
Moreover, after Israel freed Lebanese child-killer Samir Kuntar and four Hizbullah terrorists, plus the bodies of nearly 200 dead terrorists in exchange for the return of the bodies of kidnapped IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad in August, Hamas hardened its position.
Until the day of the exchange, the Israeli public had no idea that Goldwasser and Eldad were dead; the fact only became known when their plain black coffins crossed the northern border into Israel.
Shalit's whereabouts and condition are likewise unknown. In exactly the same manner as Hizbullah, Hamas has refused to allow anyone to have any direct contact with the captive soldier, including former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and the International Red Cross. The terrorists have allowed exchanges of letters and have release audio tapes of the captured soldier.