Denying the Shalit reports
We've been reporting all week that there is a deal in the works for Gilad Shalit's release. Now Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak says that's not true.
"There isn't a day that goes by on which we don't think about Gilad Schalit," he said prior to the weekly cabinet meeting. "But the reports that have been published aren't true and could even be damaging.
Let's assume there really is a deal -- a valid assumption, I think, given the solid reporting we saw all week. Taken by itself, Barak's statement doesn't make much sense. Shalit's release would be a big boost for the Netanyahu government; you'd think they would take every opportunity to talk about the deal.
But you can't view the Shalit deal in isolation. The Netanyahu government is trying to distance itself from Hamas. Remember how Egypt is mediating a deal between Hamas and Fatah? Netanyahu has been accused of encouraging the mediation; the conservatives in Israel view that as "legitimizing" Hamas.
So the last thing Netanyahu wants is to talk about negotiating a deal with Hamas for Shalit's release.
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Categories: Israel & Palestine
Tags: Ehud Barak, Gilad Shalit, Hamas
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