Israelis across the country took to the streets for five minutes Tuesday, to remember Gilad Shalit, the Israel Defense Forces soldier who has been held captive in Gaza for the past five years.
Shalit was seized in a cross-border raid by Palestinian militants in June 2006. He has been held by Hamas in Gaza since then, and negotiations aimed at securing his return have to date been unsuccessful.
Organizers of the five-minute protest called on drivers to pull over to the side of the road, workers to leave their offices and stand by the roadside and people in coffeehouses to go outside and do the same. Three airplanes were to photograph what is happening below.
Altogether, the organizers said, they had expected two million people to participate.
Knesset members also planned to halt their work for five minutes as part of the campaign.
All work in the Knesset was to cease at 11 A.M., at which point a siren was to sound and an announcement broadcast over the building’s loudspeakers. Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin made the decision at last week’s meeting of the Knesset presidium.
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