Ex-Mossad agent to bargain Shalit release

JERUSALEM, June 2 (UPI) -- A former Mossad agent appointed by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu plans to meet with the parents of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Shalit was taken captive by Islamic militants in June 2006, and has been held incommunicado in Gaza for nearly three years. Attempts to gain International Red Cross access to the soldier have been denied by Hamas.

On Sunday, Hagai Hadas, a former top Israeli intelligence official, was tasked with heading negotiations for Shalit's release. The government also set up a special committee to oversee Hadas' work.

The committee includes members of the Israeli cabinet and security and intelligence officials.

In a telephone conversation Sunday evening with the soldier's parents, Noam and Aviva Shalit, Hadas stressed that Israel has a commitment to its fighters.

Rami Igra, another former Mossad official, told Army Radio that Hadas would consider an operational solution before any other. "Diplomacy is not part of his training," Igra said in the radio interview.

Hadas, 56, replaces envoy Ofer Dekel, who under former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert failed to achieve any progress toward Shalit's release.

Hamas leaders in Gaza and Damascus said Shalit will only be released after Israel sets free 1,000 Palestinians incarcerated in Israeli jails, including terrorists responsible for the deaths of scores of Israelis.