Honorees Doris Altman, Corrine and Dan Gown, and Harriet and Arthur Sudran received proclamations during a July 19 Israeli Bonds brunch at the Jewish Congregation of Concordia. Joining them were chair Floyd Langer, left; Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo (D-Dist. 14), standing, rear; speaker Gil Elan, third from left; and congregation president Joan Kornblum, fourth from left.
Photo by Debra Rubin
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August 4, 2009
A “mega-deal” involving a large-scale prisoner exchange — including the return of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit — between Israel and Palestinian groups is in the works, according to a Mideast analyst and retired IDF officer.
Speaking July 19 at a State of Israel Bonds brunch in Monroe, Gil Elan said a deal, with Egypt as the go-between, “is very much in place.”
The event at the Jewish Congregation of Concordia raised $225,000 for Israel Bonds, including a $100,000 purchase by the congregation itself.
Honored during the program were Doris Altman, Dan and Corinne Gown, and Harriet and Arthur Sudran.
The deal, which would have the support of Syria and be coordinated by the United States, would also involve a prisoner exchange between Fatah and Hamas, opening of passages into the Gaza Strip, and joint governing between the two factions until a January election in which the winner would oversee the Palestinian territories.
“Fatah and Hamas would agree to stop killing each other,” said the retired lieutenant colonel.
Elan, southwest region executive director of the American Jewish Congress, said a deal would involve the exchange of 1,300-1,400 Palestinians held by Israel — who “do not have blood on their hands.” Shalit would be transferred to Egypt before going home to Israel.
Asked about the time frame for the deal, Elan replied that two weeks earlier he would have said it was “imminent” and could break any day. However, information seemed to have slowed in recent days.
In a July 30 phone call to his Dallas office, Elan said, “The quiet is almost deafening.”
“There is a deal in place,” said Elan. “We do know there have been extensive meetings between his father,” Noam Shalit, and prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Noam Shalit has in recent days used the words “with energy” in describing the ongoing talks, said Elan.
“There’s been a lot going on because Noam Shalit seems to be more optimistic than he was two weeks ago,” said Elan, who acknowledged being somewhat perplexed by Hamas’ seeming willingness to turn over Shalit.
“They would be giving up the one bargaining chip they have that has prevented the Israelis from taking out their leadership,” said Elan.
He said the deal may have been delayed by quibbling between Hamas and its secular rival Fatah over prisoners being held in Palestinian Authority prisons in the West Bank.
Pressing hard for the deal is Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak, whose stability is threatened in his country by the growing influence of the Hamas-aligned Muslim Brotherhood.
Although there has been “no sign that Gilad Shalit is alive” for more than a year, Elan said, Mubarak claimed he recently saw him and that the soldier “is whole,” meaning fine.
He added, “I tend to believe Hosni Mubarak.”
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