This is a partial transcript from “Hannity & Colmes,” September 7, 2006, that has been edited for clarity.
ALAN COLMES, CO-HOST: Ehud Goldwasser is one of the two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah guerillas in a July 12 raid sparking a bloody 34-day war. Goldwasser’s family continues to plead for his release, and his wife, Karnit, joins us now in an exclusive interview.
Karnit, thank you so much for being with us. How are you coping?
KARNIT GOLDWASSER, WIFE OF KIDNAPPED SOLDIER: Hi, thank you.
It’s hard. And since July 12 I am going to sleep alone and wake up alone and no one calling me to tell me good night. So it’s very hard.
COLMES: Do you have any update on how he is doing, what condition he is in?
GOLDWASSER: No. No one gets any sign of life from my husband or the other that was kidnapped with him since July 12. We don’t know what’s happened to them, if they’re alive or not, if they’re injured or not. No one knows.
COLMES: You spoke with Ehud Olmert. You had a meeting with him?
GOLDWASSER: Yes. I had a meeting with him a few weeks ago, but the other members of the family which are in Israel met him this morning and then he promised them that he would do everything he can to bring them back.
And I heard that he announced that until the implementation of Resolution 1701 won’t be achieved, which is the return of Ehud Goldwasser, my husband, and the other reserve soldier, he wants to continue to implementation them.
COLMES: You asked him, as I understand it, if he would have direct talks with Hezbollah to negotiate release. Is that true and what did he respond?
GOLDWASSER: Yes. He said that he would do anything he can to bring them back. We asked him to do everything to bring them — we are just the family and I’m just his wife. And I want my husband back. I want my life back. He is my soul mate, and he is over there waiting for us to bring him back home to his natural place.
SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: Ms. Goldwasser, how many days has it been now?
GOLDWASSER: I don’t know. I don’t count.
HANNITY: OK.
GOLDWASSER: I just know that it’s since July 12.
HANNITY: Yes. We hope and pray that your husband gets back to you as quickly as possible, ma’am. Is it right to go to war over this? Was it the right thing for Israel to do?
GOLDWASSER: You know, on July 12 the Hezbollah did two things. One of the things was to kidnap my husband, and the other thing — and they start the shelling all over Israel. So Israel first of all needs to defend the civilians, which I’m one of them, because we are living in Israel.
And then Hezbollah did the escalation. So the war wasn’t because of the kidnapping of two soldiers. The war was because Hezbollah in the last six years since Israel withdrew from Lebanon armed themselves so well and what happened to my husband was the trigger for everything that happened.
HANNITY: Yes, well, they withdrew from Lebanon, Gaza. Certainly, the issue of land for peace has been resolved, and that is that it doesn’t work.
I guess the question now has become that they seem to want as many as 1,000 prisoners released in exchange for your husband. Six hundred is the number I hear often; 1,000 is a number I hear. Do you want and would it be the right thing to do for the Israeli government to make that exchange?
GOLDWASSER: You know, I’m just his wife. And I would do anything to bring my husband back. The politicians have to be asked those questions. We’re just the family, and I can tell you that I would do anything I can to bring him back, because he’s my soul mate.
HANNITY: Yes.
GOLDWASSER: We just got married. We have our first anniversary on October 14, and I want him so much. I want my husband back.
HANNITY: Well, this is what terrorism is. I mean, you’re living through it and the heartache of not knowing how he’s doing and whether he’s even alive, whether they’ve killed him or they’ve been unkind to him or tortured him. It’s got to be very, very difficult for you. Tell us a little bit about the last time you saw him and did he know the dangers that he was involved in?
GOLDWASSER: No. And he didn’t know the dangers because this was his first time to be in the reserve in the north of Israel.
So he said to me this time it will be OK and it will be quiet and it will be like a vacation, because the north of Israel is beautiful. And we talked about it, and we were very, both of us, very pleased.
And the last time that I talked to him, and it was the night before he was kidnapped. It was the night before he was supposed to return back home. And he told me that we’re going to do a very short conversation, because the next day I’m going to see him, and we’re going to talk for a long time.
COLMES: Karnit, we hope you see him very soon and that he has a very quick and safe return to you. Thank you very much for being with us.
GOLDWASSER: Thank you.
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