PERSONS OF THE WEEK - June 26-July 1, 2006

This week's choice was easy, but it was also difficult. The easy part was picking which story to focus on - nothing could equal Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip. On the other hand, isolating one individual who had the most influence was very difficult. In the end, I chose to give the award to all three of the people who I think shaped the current situation.

First, could not ignore the man whose kidnapping triggered the military operation - a young Israeli soldier named Gilad Shalit. His case has captured the attention of the entire world, and I'm sure that millions of people worldwide are praying for his safety. Luckily, the evidence seems to indicate that he is still alive. I can assure you that he is also in the prayers of this blogger, and I wish that I did not have to give him this award this week (as I would much rather he be safe than making this sort of news)

While Gilad Shalit may be the reason for the current situation, I also felt that I would be remiss if I did not mention the men who made the decisions about eeacatly how the rescue was to be carried out. Israel's leaders have made some very gutsy decisions throughout this campaign- most notably the decisions to arrest many prominent members of the Hamas-led Palestinian government and bomb the office of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. Hence, I feel that I must give a piece of this award to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his Defence Minister, Amir Peretz.

So, for their contributions to the current situation in Israel, I name Gilad Shalit, Ehud Olmert, and Amir Peretz as ConservaGlobe's Persons of the Week.

Tags: Person of the Week, Gilad Shalit, Ehud Olmert, Olmert, Shalit, Amir Peretz, Israel, Gaza, News, Current Affairs, Current Events