Last July, during the war against Hezbollah, I was part of a small group meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. He gave us the conditions for a cease fire, which included the release of the captured soldiers, Ehud “Udi” Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.

Well, the war is now over and we haven’t heard a word about these young men. Olmert, who botched the war, remains silent. US President George Bush doesn’t seem to have time for his old friends. He’s too busy botching his own war.

I also had breakfast with Udi’s wife Karnit who felt strongly that someone would help her – the Israeli government, Kofi Annan (who’s not know to be a Zionist), or someone in the US.

No one has delivered. I’ve lost touch with Karnit despite corresponding with her a great deal in person, over the phone and via email. After being an international celebrity, she seems to have withdrawn. In Israel, there were rallies, but those too have quieted down. Yet, Karnit goes on without her husband

Even convicted spy Jonathan Pollard seems to have a bigger on-going international effort to set him free than Udi and Eldad have. The latter are war heroes, the former a villain. 

As Americans we can’t forget our Israeli friends, despite a whole host of problems confronting our country. What can we do to help release these innocent Israelis?

If you’d like to buy a band with the captured soldiers’ names on then, send an email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

To clarify what I was saying about Karnit: I think’s despondent and depressed about the situation. She exhausted her resources and has no where else to turn.

I think you may have discovered why you should not negotiate from a position of weakness, which is what the Israeli’s did in this case. They allowed pressure from the U.N. and others to weaken their resolve to do what needed to be done, and consequently the lost the upper hand and Hamas got what they wanted, a cease fire and they didn’t have to give back the soldiers that they kidnapped. As for what you may be implying about the wife of the soldier that you spoke with, I’ll leave that subject alone out of respect for her.

Dave—thanks for chiming in. Good reading suggestion. 

I hadn’t seen that, but had been reading about the debate if being anit-Zionist is being anti-Semitic. 

Personally,I think it’s okay to question Israel’s leadership, but it’s not okay to challenge Israel’s right to exist.

I think debate is healthy. When it crosses the line into stereotypes (Jews control the media) or the Israeli state itself, it’s not acceptable.

Andy - congrats and good luck on the blog.  (And, um, kudos on the double entendre name(?)).

So, did you catch the NYT Magazine piece on Abe Foxman the other week? (“Does Abe Foxman Have an Anti-Anti-Semite Problem?”, Jan. 14: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30A15FE3E540C778DDDA80894DF404482)

Wonder what your thoughts were about the debate about debating anti-Semitism.

Best,
Dave