Aviva Schalit: 'Our joy is indescribable'

Aviva Schalit smiled, but did not weep or scream when the cabinet early Wednesday morning approved a deal to bring her son Gilad home after more than five years of captivity in Gaza.“Our joy is indescribable,” she told the reporters who crowded around her and her husband, Noam, as they sat at about 1 a.m. in the small white protest tent erected for Gilad on the sidewalk around the corner from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Jerusalem home.They were aware, they both said, that a number of steps had to happen in the coming day before Gilad would be released.“We are still waiting for Gilad. Until we see him we won’t let our emotions erupt,” she said.RELATED:The Schalit deal: 1,027 prisoners to be freed in 2 stages Once Gilad has returned, she said, “We will greet him with a huge hug and smile.”Noam added, “When Gilad comes down the stairs and into our home, then we can say that the circle is closed.”var ord = window.ord || Math.floor(Math.random() * 1e16);document.write('');Defense Minister Ehud Barak was equally cautious when he arrived at the tent after the cabinet vote. He kissed Noam and Aviva before addressing the media.“Today we took a large step forward on the road to Gilad’s return,” Barak said. But he cautioned, “I advise everyone not to get too excited.“Gilad is not yet with us and I suggest that [until he is] we remain calm and restrained.“I hope that we don't make any mistakes in the coming days and that we will be blessed to have Gilad home in his parents’ arms,” said Barak.But most of the activists and supporters who crowded around the tent could not contain their emotions. Even as they waited for the verdict, they sang and danced in the street. One young man banged on a drum.A number of passing cars honked their horns in support. Gilad’s brother Yoel sat in the tent in the last hours before the vote, along with his girlfriend, Yaara Winkler.Winkler had been an activist on behalf of Gilad when she fell in love with Yoel.Upon hearing that the deal passed, Yoel and Yaara leapt up, and kissed and hugged a number of activists before sitting back down.Yaara said that it had been hard to truly feel the moment, because they had been so trained not to get excited every time it appeared that a breakthrough had occurred.“We have trained ourselves to think that nothing is happening until we see him. A piece of that remains,” she said.“We are still looking to see that this is really happening and is not a dream,” she said.“The moment of truth will be when Gilad returns,” added Yoel.He said he hoped they could then return to their normal lives.“This is a symbolic day in which sadness is mixed with joy,” Noam said. “It’s a day when the Israeli government succeeded after five years, 1,935 long days and nights, to return Gilad our son home.”It had taken a long time to secure that release, he said. He commended Netanyahu’s brave leadership, and said that what mattered was that at the end of the day, he succeeded in freeing Gilad.Noam took a moment to note that other captive families had not been as lucky as his.News of Gilad’s release came just three days before the October 14, 1994, anniversary of the botched IDF rescue attempt during which kidnapped soldier Nachshon Wachsman, 19, was killed. His parents, Esther and Yehuda, came to the tent, after hearing the news, to hug Noam and Aviva.The cabinet vote also came before the October 16, 1986, anniversary of the shooting of airman Ron Arad’s plane over Lebanon. The 28-year-old pilot survived the crash, but was kidnapped, and held for two years before he disappeared. His family threw their support behind the Schalit family and often spoke of their fear that Gilad might suffer a similar fate.“Today the family [of missing airman] Ron Arad marked the 25th anniversary of his captivity,” said Noam. So “our joy is mixed with sadness for the Arad family that has been unable, to our sorrow, to see Ron Arad come home. We are sending the Arad family a hug,” he said.Click for full JPost coverage

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