Prisoner Release

The obvious anger in this cartoon was ignited by the local PR campaign that our Prime Minister has launched about his appointment of his "representative" for the return of Gilad Schalit.

What got me angry was that the Netanyahu government continues its silence on Jonathan Pollard, even as it publicly and proudly struts its concern about Schalit and secretly prepares its list of Palestinian convicts to release as part of an "exchange", which is simply paying ransom to kidnappers!

The Press Release distributed by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser begins:

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today (Sunday), 31 May 2009, appointed former senior Mossad official Hagai Hadas as his special representative on the return of abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. Hadas will be assisted by security establishment officials, Minister Dan Meridor and MK Yisrael Hasson; his work will be overseen by a special team composed of Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, Minister Yossi Peled, Minister Moshe Yaalon (and Minister Meridor and MK Hasson).".

Bibi's Press Release ends with:

"Shortly after Prime Minister Netanyahu informed Hadas of his appointment, Hadas contacted Noam Shalit, who is currently in the US, and told him of his appointment. Hadas said that Gilad Shalit and his family are at the center of affairs and that this was a moral mission of the highest order. He pledged to do his utmost to unite all relevant bodies and noted that, "We have a great obligation to our fighters and it is in the spirit of this commitment that I intend to act."

The whole Press Release is here.

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Question: When was the last time that a representative of the Israeli government contacted a member of Pollard's family to explain that obtaining Jonathan's release "was a moral mission of the highest order"?