Father prods Israel on captive soldier

ARAD, Israel, July 1 (UPI) -- The Israeli government has not done enough to free Gilad Shalit, a soldier held in Gaza for five years, his father charged Friday.

Noam Shalit, visiting the family of his son's commander, Hanan Barak, who was killed in the June 25, 2006, raid, appealed to the public to increase pressure on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government, The Jerusalem Post reported, quoting Israel Radio.

Netanyahu recently said he had agreed to a prisoner exchange proposed by German mediator Gerard Conrad, which Hamas rejected.

But Ya'acov Katz, leader of the rightist National Union party, accused the prime minister of surrender by agreeing to free "arch-terrorists."

"The state of Israel hasn't done 1 percent of what it can do to bring about Shalit's release," he said. "The family, in its desire to get their son free, should not lead the country to insanity. Noam Shalit can form his own party and run if he wants."