Gilad Shalits father: I would fight Israelis if I was Palestinian

Abu Sina · Aug 7, 2013

The father of an Israeli soldier held in captivity for more than five years by Hamas has said he would fight Israeli soldiers if he were a Palestinian [see footnote].

Noam Shalit, who announced earlier this year that he would be standing for the opposition Labour party in the next Israeli elections, has provoked outrage among the Israeli right with the comments. His son, Gilad, was released in a prisoner swap in October 2011.

Shalit added that the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers by Hamas militants was comparable to the techniques used by Israeli paramilitary fighters the Haganah against the British, arguing "we also kidnapped British soldiers when we were fighting for our freedom".

Speaking to a television interviewer in the kitchen of the Shalit family home, a familiar backdrop for the Israeli public from the family's five-year campaign for their son's release, Shalit was subject to repeated questioning attempting to pin him down on his political policies.

The former engineer eventually summarised his key campaign issues as "mutual responsibility. And not leaving soldiers behind or any Israeli who is in any trouble." He also said he would be prepared to negotiate with Hamas if he were an MP, something the Israeli government, along with Britain and the US, refuses to do.

"I am in favour of speaking to anyone who wants to talk to us," he said. When asked whether he would negotiate with a Hamas government headed by his son's kidnapper, he maintained: "If they change their ways and are willing to recognise Israel as a Jewish state, yes, I would shake his hand."
accept another Ron Arad [missing Israeli pilot captured in Lebanon]," Shalit said.

An official from within the Israeli prime minister's office refused to give an official response to Shalit's comments but pointed to his recent emergence as a candidate for the opposition, recommending "his comments should be taken in that context".
Click to expand...

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/mar/15/gilad-shalit-father-kidnap-israel

this makes no sense to me???

"I would fight Israelis if I was Palestinian"

then

"are willing to recognise Israel as a Jewish state"

is anyone else confused by this?

Log in or Sign up

Gilad Shalits father: I would fight Israelis if I was Palestinian

Abu Sina New Member

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

Gilad Shalits father: I would fight Israelis if I was Palestinian

Abu Sina New Member

Share This Page

Useful Searches