Father of Israeli Soldier Gilad Schalit Dies at 68

FILE - Noam Schalit, father of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit stands next to cardboard cut-outs of his son, during a protest calling for Gilad's release, outside the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)
FILE - Noam Schalit, father of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit stands next to cardboard cut-outs of his son, during a protest calling for Gilad's release, outside the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)
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Father of Israeli Soldier Gilad Schalit Dies at 68

FILE - Noam Schalit, father of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit stands next to cardboard cut-outs of his son, during a protest calling for Gilad's release, outside the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)
FILE - Noam Schalit, father of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit stands next to cardboard cut-outs of his son, during a protest calling for Gilad's release, outside the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)

Noam Shalit, the father of a captive Israeli soldier who battled for five years to free his son from his Hamas captors, has died. He was 68.

A spokesman for Rambam hospital in northern Israel said Shalit died late Wednesday of cancer.

Shalit was catapulted into the national spotlight after his son, Gilad was captured, emerging as the public face of the campaign to free him. He rallied the nation around his crusade, morphing his son’s plight into a national obsession that eventually saw then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ok a lopsided prisoner exchange for Gilad’s release.

Palestinians abducted Gilad, then 19, from his tank in June 2006 in a brazen cross-border infiltration from Gaza. He was held captive for five years in a Gaza basement, kept in isolation, barred from having visitors and seen only once, in a scripted video released by his captors to prove he was alive. He was released in 2011 after Israel agreed to free more than 1,000 prisoners.

After Gilad’s capture, his parents, Noam and Aviva, became public figures, The Associated Press reported. Noam Shalit frequently met Israeli leaders. He was a fixture on Israeli TV. And even made his case to the United Nations.

With the help of a sophisticated PR campaign that enlisted celebrities, musicians and an army of thousands of volunteers, Shalit succeeded to convince many Israelis that Gilad — a military conscript like every other Jewish Israeli — could have been their son, brother or friend.

Images of Shalit hung on billboards, flags and bumper stickers around the country and even, for a time, in New York’s Times Square. His family erected a protest tent outside the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem, which became a pilgrimage site for activists and onlookers from around the country.

In the summer of 2010, Noam Shalit led days of nationwide marches calling on the government to press for his release.



Iran Says Its Right to Uranium Enrichment Is Non-Negotiable 

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks as he meets with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq October 13, 2024. (Reuters)
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks as he meets with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq October 13, 2024. (Reuters)
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Iran Says Its Right to Uranium Enrichment Is Non-Negotiable 

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks as he meets with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq October 13, 2024. (Reuters)
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks as he meets with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq October 13, 2024. (Reuters)

Iran's right to enrich uranium is not negotiable, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday, ahead of a second round of talks in Oman this weekend with the United States about Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

Araqchi was responding to a comment made on Tuesday by the US top negotiator Steve Witkoff, who said Tehran must "stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment" to reach a deal with Washington.

"We have heard contradictory statements from Witkoff, but real positions will be made clear at the negotiating table," Araqchi said.

"We are ready to build trust regarding possible concerns over Iran's enrichment (of uranium), but the principle of enrichment is not negotiable."

Iran and the US are due to hold a second round of talks in Oman on Saturday over Tehran's escalating nuclear program, with President Donald Trump threatening military action if there is no deal.

Before the talks, Araqchi will deliver a message from Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to Russian President Vladimir Putin on a trip to Russia, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday.

The Kremlin on Tuesday declined to comment when asked if Russia was ready to take control of Iran's stocks of enriched uranium as part of a possible future nuclear deal between Iran and the United States.

The Guardian reported that Tehran was expected to reject a US proposal to transfer its stockpile of enriched uranium to a third country such as Russia as part of an agreement that Washington is seeking to scale back Iran's nuclear program.