PM Netanyahu: Israel will do everything to free Shalit

        Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that the state is committed to do everything in its power to bring home kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. "Every combat soldier knows that we will use all our capabilities to bring him home safe and sound," Netanyahu said before a special Independence Day ceremony at the President's Residence to honor outstanding soldiers. "Judging by our size, we are a small state, and judging by the magnitude of the challenges before us, we are a superpower in and of itself," President Shimon Peres said at the ceremony. "There is no country in the world that has been attacked seven times in 60 years of existence," Peres said. Israel faces existential threats, ostracism and wars, but it will enter the history books as a miracle, as proof that it is possible to do beyond what is expected and beyond what is extant." IDF chief Gabi Ashkenazi said Israel's finest soldiers should serve as an example to naysayers who believe the next generation of youngsters will not be up to the task of carrying the country's defense burden. "Sixty-one years after the establishment of the state, the values of brotherhood and sacrifice are still relevant to the youth," the chief of staff said. (22,20)