Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Gilad Shalit Released From IDF

Former captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has been released from the Israel Defense Forces.

Shalit was officially released, at the rank of sergeant-major, on Wednesday, six months after he was freed from Hamas captivity in Gaza.

Shalit signed his release forms at his home in Mitzpe Hila in northern Israel, in lieu of going to an IDF induction center, as part of an expedited administrative procedure, according to reports.

Shalit was held in Gaza for five years after being captured by Hamas in a cross-border raid in June 2006. He was released in October 2011 as part of a swap deal between Israel and Hamas in which nearly 500 Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails were released at the time of his freeing, and another 550 in December.

Following his release from Hamas captivity Shalit was classified as a disabled veteran; he received medical and psychological treatment from the military, and will continue to do so through the Ministry of Defense’s Disabled Rehabilitation Division, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.