Shas party chairman and Minster of Industry, Trade and Labor Eli Yishai informed reporters on Tuesday that the Olmert government will not be able to conclude negotiations for the return of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.
Yishai said with obvious sadness, "This government apparently will not be able to successfully resolve the Shalit affair."
The Shas leader, who will remain as part of the incoming Likud-led coalition government, added that "the next government will be committed with the same intensity to bringing Gilad home. That is its duty, despite the anticipated difficulties."
Outgoing Pensioners Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan hinted on Tuesday that Israel may consider a large-scale military operation against Hamas.
The former head of the Mossad international intelligence agency said during an interview on IDF Army Radio that he didn't expect there to be a cabinet vote Tuesday afternoon on the terms Hamas set for Shalit's freedom.
"Ultimately, there is no room for a radical movement like Hamas," Eitan said. "Sooner or later, any government will have to consider dealing with the matter much more aggressively."
An official from the Prime Minister's Office called Shalit's father Noam Monday night after special envoy Ofer Dekel and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) director Yuval Diskin met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert when they arrived from Egypt.
Gilad's father, who was in the Shalit supporters' tent across from the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem, received the grim news quietly and then distanced himself from those who were present.
Family members met with Dekel late Tuesday morning to hear first-hand what happened during the talks in Cairo.
Moments after Dekel met with the family, Noam Shalit told Voice of Israel government radio that the family would "stay put" and place its hopes in the next government. He declined to elaborate on what Dekel had told the family, however.
“We’re staying in the tent until a new government will be established,” the elder Shalit said, adding, "We’re not giving details of the developments, in the meantime."
A senior official involved with the negotiations told reporters that despite the negative developments, the negotiations have not ended, and Shalit’s fate has not been sealed.
Prime Minister Olmert entered a meeting with the Cabinet at 2:00 p.m., where the full outgoing government of 25 ministers listened as Diskin and Dekel presented Israel's offer to Hamas and the terrorist group's counter-offer.
Israel's proposal, which has been termed by government officials as “extremely generous” and “unprecedented,” was nonetheless rejected by Hamas. Senior political officials said there was a possibility that the prime minister would table a special last-minute proposal for consideration by the government.