Noam Shalit declared Sunday that the family of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit plans to intensify their battle to release their son, saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has no mandate to sentence his son to death.
"We say to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: you have no mandate to sentence Gilad to death," Shalit said during a press conference in front of the prime minister's official home in Jerusalem.
Saturday marked five years since Gilad was captured by Hamas and taken to Gaza.
"The stubbornness and the obstinacy that you prime minister display in this sad affair is a real and immediate threat – not imaginary and not our fantasy – to Gilad's life. It is also a threat to the national strength and values of the state of Israel which we have been raised on for generations," Shalit said.
"In the absence of pressure placed on Hamas leadership, you must fulfill your duty to the IDF soldier that you sent over five years ago. Pay the price that is needed out of strength and not out of weakness, before it is too late," Shalit said.
Approximately 350 people gathered on Saturday at an armored corps monument in the Eshkol region of the western Negev to mark the sad occasion. The protesters called on the government to accept Hamas' terms for a prisoner swap.
Shalit's family did not attend the rally, but Gilad's grandfather, Zvi Shalit, sent a letter that was read out loud. "The people involved talk to us from time to time, caress our heads, but my dear grandchild Gilad is still rotting away in the Hamas cellars having done nothing wrong, like a common criminal," he wrote.