(Washington, DC) - U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) today announced that the House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously approved his resolution that calls for the immediate and unconditional release of the three Israeli soldiers held captive by Hamas and Hizbullah. The measure now heads to the House Floor where it is likely to soon be voted on by the full House.

The three soldiers include Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev who were abducted by Hizbullah on July 12, 2006 and Gilad Shalit who was kidnapped by Hamas on June 25, 2006. To date, nobody has heard from any of them.

“We can not compel these parties to release Gilad, Ehud and Eldad any more than we can force them to understand the difference between right and wrong” said Ackerman, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Chairman of its Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia. “You can not disgrace someone incapable of shame. But we can stand by our ally, the State of Israel. We can express our sympathy and our concern for the captives and for their families. This resolution does just that.”

Ackerman introduced the measure on January 30, 2007 with Representatives Ileana  Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Tom Lantos (D-CA), Chairman of the committee, Mike Pence (R-IN), Ranking Member of the Middle East and South Asia Subcommittee and Alcee Hastings (D-FL).

The lawmakers also announced the measure at press conference the same day on Capitol Hill with Karnit Goldwasser, the wife of kidnapped soldier Ehud Goldwasser and Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Sallai Meridor.

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