Noam Shalit goes to rabbi

            Israel is waiting for Hamas' response and attempting to lower expectations. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised Tuesday that if and when a deal is finalized, it would be brought to the government's approval "and to a public discourse, Ynet reported. " Ministers are expected to convene Wednesday for a pre-scheduled diplomatic-security cabinet meeting, where they may learn more about the deal's outline and timetable. The Shalit family members are continuing their battle to have their son released. Gilad's father, Noam, is expected to meet Wednesday with Ministers Yuval Steinitz (Likud) and Uzi Landau (Yisrael Beiteinu) in an attempt to change their minds and have them vote in favor of a possible deal. He will later try to gain the support of Israel's chief rabbis as well. The Palestinian prisoners' families are also exerting heavy pressures in a bid to find out whether their sons are included on the list of inmates slated to be released. It is still unclear whether former Fatah Secretary-General in the West Bank Marwan Barghouti, who is serving several life terms for murder, will be freed as part of the deal. The wife of Ahmed Saadat, the secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who is jailed in Israel for planning the murder of Minister Rehavam Ze'evi, says she has not received any information from an official source that her husband is expected to be released in exchange for Shalit. "My husband prefers the deal to include veteran prisoners and those sentenced for longer jail terms than him. In addition, he would like to see sick prisoners, women and minors released before him," Abla Saadat said. (10,29)