The U.S.-based National Council of Young Israel (NCYI) launched a new international campaign to press for the release of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, held captive by Hamas in Gaza since his abduction in 2006. The effort is primarily aimed at keeping Shalit on the agenda of Israeli leaders.
To promote the campaign, NCYI opened a new website at www.BringGiladHome.com. The site provides contact information for Israeli government officials and representatives, both in Israel and in the United States. It also provides a sample letter that people can fax, e-mail or send via regular mail, and proposed wording to use when calling Israeli leaders. Visitors to the website are urged to contact the Israeli leaders on a daily basis to remind them of their responsibility to bring Shalit home.
On July 25, 2006, then-18-year-old Gilad Shalit was captured by Hamas and allied terrorists in a raid on a military base just outside Gaza. Two other soldiers were killed in the attack, which included infiltration by way of an underground tunnel. More than two-and-a-half years later, Gilad is still being held captive.
NCYI Executive Vice President Rabbi Pesach Lerner noted that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert recently told United States Mideast envoy Senator George Mitchell that the crossings in and out of Gaza will not be opened for anything other than humanitarian aid until a solution is reached concerning the safe return of Shalit. According to Rabbi Lerner, this is a step in the right direction.
"It is critical that Jews around the world let Israeli leaders know that we support keeping the Gaza crossings closed until Gilad Shalit is released," said Rabbi Lerner.
"The pain and anguish that the Shalit family has endured for the past two-and-a-half years is indescribable, and concern for the health and well-being of Gilad Shalit is shared by Jews around the world," said NCYI President Shlomo Z. Mostofsky. "Our Israeli leaders need to hear from all of us how critical it is that they continue making Gilad Shalit's release a top priority, and how crucial it is that they take a hard line approach and keep the Gaza crossings closed pending Gilad's safe return home."
Recent reports indicate that efforts towards a negotiated release of the captive IDF soldier have intensified. A Hamas spokesman told Arabic media outlets on Thursday, however, that Israel dropped its demand for Shalit's release as a condition to open the crossings into Gaza.
NCYI is an American Orthodox synagogue movement with affiliated synagogues throughout the United States as well as in Israel through its Yisrael HaTza'ir nationwide organization.