Aviva Schalit: 'Bring Gilad back before it's too late'

At exhibition of her son's illustrations, captured soldier's mother says state hasn't done enough to release him.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
aviva schalit mother tent 248 88 aj (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
aviva schalit mother tent 248 88 aj
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Aviva Schalit, the mother of captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, broke from her normally restrained demeanor and lashed out at the government on Tuesday, saying that the state had not done enough to secure the release of her son. "Until now, the state of Israel has failed in all its efforts to return my son," Schalit said at the opening of an exhibition of illustrations from a children's book Gilad created when he was 11 years old. "The state of Israel must bring Gilad home, before it's too late," she continued, adding that her son's fate would not be "determined from above." "We must save Gilad so that there won't be a stain on society," Aviva urged. "We can and must end this affair quickly and without hesitation." Also at the event was Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, who said: "It is our responsibility, all of us, to find the way to bring him back to his loving family." "I am certain that the government, which is relatively new, has not rested for a second in its quest to achieve this," he added.