New York, NY June 29, 2006 . . . The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) stands in solidarity with Israel as it conducts operations in Gaza to free kidnapped Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit.  The Hamas leadership, in failing to explicitly condemn the attack, "has shown that Hamas, true to its roots, has not given up on resorting to terrorism and violence against Israel."

 "We express our strong solidarity with the State of Israel and its operation to free Cpl. Shalit, and we recognize that Israel has no other choice but to act in the face of continued provocations by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza," said Barbara B. Balser, ADL National Chair, and Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director.  "We also mourn the loss of kidnapped Israeli teenager Eliahu Asheri, brutally murdered at the hands of Palestinian terrorists in the West Bank.

 "What is clear from this latest provocation is that Hamas, true to its roots, has not given up on resorting to terror and violence against Israel," added Ms. Balser and Mr. Foxman.  "The Hamas-led Palestinian government's failure to act against the terrorists in their midst demonstrates to the world that they have no intention of stopping the violence, and in fact are encouraging the terrorists to continue attacking Israel regardless of the cost to the Palestinian people."

The June 25 cross-border attack on the military installation near Kibbutz Kerem Shalom in southern Israel, in which two soldiers were killed and three wounded, was just the latest in a series of escalating provocations by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza.  The unrelenting shelling of the southern Israeli town of Sderot has continued despite Israel's complete withdrawal from Gaza – including the evacuation of settlements – in August 2005.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.