Kidnapping Did Not Start War, Says Israeli Father

Relatives of one of the Israeli soldiers held hostage by Hizbullah today said his kidnapping was not the catalyst for the Middle East conflict.

Ehud Goldwasser, an Israeli reservist, was seized on July 12 along with another soldier, Eldad Regev, when Hizbullah gunmen ambushed a patrol running along the border with Lebanon.

The incident sparked a war that has left hundreds dead, thousands injured and more than a million people displaced from their homes.

At a pro-Israeli rally attended by more than 2,000 people in Manchester, Ehud's father, Shlomo Goldwasser, and his father-in-law, Omri Avni, said that tensions between the two countries had been building since Israel withdrew from Lebanon six years ago.

Mr Goldwasser, who lives in South Africa with his wife Malka, said: "Hizbullah has been building its army for years. It has Katyusha rockets, thousands of them, this does not happen overnight. What do they need them for?

"My son's kidnapping is not the cause for this war, to find out why this war happened you need to go back into history.

"It is not fair to put the blame on my son for what is happening. Of course I regret the loss of life on both sides, I am human.

"The kidnappers did it in order to get something back or to manipulate us."

Ehud - known to his family as Udi - was on his last day of service when he was seized. He was not a military man, said his father.

The 31-year-old environmental engineer, who is the eldest of three children, lived in Nahariya with his wife Karnit, whom he married 10 months ago.

Mr Goldwasser said he first heard of his son's disappearance on CNN. "I was not in Israel at the time. I called his wife. She was crying. The second call I made was to my travel agent."

The family has previously refused to comment on whether Israeli military action has been disproportionate, but Mr Goldwasser said he had confidence in the Israeli government's decisions.

"They have shown they are willing to do whatever it takes to get my son back," he said.