Mideast Conflict

Noam Schalit, father of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit stands next to cardboard cut-outs of his son, during a protest calling for Gilad's release, outside the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his top ministers on Monday debated whether to approve an emotionally charged deal to trade 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for an Israeli soldier held by Gaza militants for more than three years. At a protest tent outside the prime minister's official residence, dozens of demonstrators carried cardboard cutouts of the captured soldier, 23-year-old Sgt. Gilad Schalit, and urged Cabinet ministers to wrap up an agreement.