A Discreet Journalist?

Shlomi Eldar wanted to help rescue Gilad Shalit but being a journalist has it problems. Like when people don't trust you because of all the unethical and downright nasty things you did and reported about in the past.

So, now we know:-

Four days after the abduction of Gilad Shalit in Kerem Shalom last June 25, Channel 10 reporter Shlomi Eldar began trying to bring the soldier home. For four days he couldn't shake the feeling that he had to get involved - that holding an Israeli captive in Gaza changed the rules of the game...

...Eldar went to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in the belief, which turned out to be naive, that he would find a receptive listener, maybe even Ehud Olmert himself.

"Olmert was new on the job, and most of the people with him were new, too, and I didn't know them that well," says Eldar. "To avoid an unnecessary delay, I first called Lior Horev, the spokesman for the PMO. I told him that I had to reach the prime minister because I had something in connection with Gilad Shalit, and that I couldn't elaborate anymore than that for now. He promised to get back to me.

"I put down the receiver and suddenly I get a call from the Shin Bet. They say: 'We hear you want to speak to us.' Who wants to speak with them? Why did they think to send me to the Shin Bet? I explained to them that it was a discreet and important matter related to the PMO and that I wasn't acting as a journalist now and certainly wasn't interested in talking to the Shin Bet.

"A few hours later I get a call from Major General Gadi Shamni, the prime minister's military secretary, and it was a conversation I'll never forget. He asked: 'What do you want to tell me?'" (Eldar imitates the haughty, militaristic tone of Shamni's voice). "And I tell him, 'Not over the phone. I can come to see you in Jerusalem first thing tomorrow morning to talk with you seriously. It's important.'"

Why not over the phone?

"Maybe I'm paranoid, but I always have the feeling that my phone is being tapped and I really thought that this was something that deserved special treatment. At least a meeting of a few minutes. And then Shamni started to pressure me, 'Yalla, talk on the phone. Nu, do you know whom I speak to on this telephone? Come on, talk.' Finally, I said to him, 'Listen, I have information about Gilad Shalit and I have someone who could cautiously and quickly handle the contacts with the kidnappers, better than anyone else.' I explained that it was someone who had access, someone to whom they were much indebted and that it could be settled quickly. And that the faster Israel acted, the easier Shalit's return would be and the lower the price.

"He asked me, 'Who is this person of yours?' I told him, Sami Abu Samhadna. He told me, 'We've got plenty of mediators, everyone will want to mediate, only we're not willing to pay a price for Shalit's release, at least not now. If we come to a dead end, we'll talk with you. Who knows?' His voice was full of scorn. As if to say, who are you to interfere in matters that are so far above your head? His contempt and arrogance toward me made me feel very uncomfortable. From the beginning I was afraid that I was stepping into a place that wasn't mine, but I knew that there was an avenue that had to be explored, and so I was very hurt by this response.

He's 'hurt' and Gilad is still in captivity.