tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13539920.post-1157618401991410392006-09-07T11:19:00.000+03:002006-09-07T11:40:02.523+03:00<div align="justify">In yet another embarrassing display of backpedaling, Prime Minister Olmert is removing the air, sea and land blockade around Lebanon at 6:00 PM today (Israel time). It was heart wrenching to hear Bennie Regev (brother of kidnapped IDF soldier, Eldad Regev) on IDF radio this morning, when he said his brother would now be flown out of Lebanon to Iran, and his brother's fate will now be exactly the same as that of Ron Arad.<br /><br />So...against the advice of the IDF, without getting anything at all in return for the "gesture" of removing the blockade, we're losing (giving away) one of the few playing cards we have left to ensure the return of our soldiers.<br /><br />The soldier's parents will be meeting with Olmert today to give him a piece of their minds (<a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3300775,00.html">YNETnews</a> reports):<br /><blockquote>Since the decision to lift the blockade was first published Wednesday evening, anger has been building up among the families, who are infuriated over the government's conduct. They claim that they were given a promise by the prime minister that the blockade will not be lifted until a sign of life is received from their sons.<br /><br />The Regev and Goldwasser families initially hoped that the decision to withdraw Israel Defense Forces soldiers from Lebanon was in some way linked to new information on their sons' fate, but after no word was received from government representatives, they realized that Israel has given up its last means to pressure Lebanon and Hizbullah on the matter.<br /><br />Shlomo Goldwasser, Ehud's father, said Wednesday night: "We want answers. We want to understand what's going on here. The prime minister said several weeks ago that he regards the kidnap affairs as though these were his own sons. We are not really sure that this is how he acts, or feels."<br /><br />"Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said last week that the blockade will not be lifted until we get a sign of life from the sons. So what happened? We are not aware of any sign received. As far as we know, the government has received no such sign, and the State's representative in the negotiations has been avoiding us," he added.</blockquote></div><div align="justify"><br /><br />What's the silver lining to this cloud?<br /><br />Dunno...haven't figured that one out yet. <br /><br /><br /><i>Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael</i><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Middle-East" rel="tag"></a><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Israel" rel="tag"></a><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Katyusha" rel="tag"></a><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Haifa" rel="tag"></a><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Gaza" rel="tag"></a><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Settlements" rel="tag"></a><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Aliya" rel="tag"></a><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/war" rel="tag"></a><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Lebanon" rel="tag"></a> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13539920-115761840199141039?l=muqata.blogspot.com'/></div>Jameel @ The Muqatahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15890095633246557332noreply@blogger.com4