Erdogan said to be "only one" who can rescue Israeli soldier

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the only person who can save captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, a prominent Turkish-Israeli businessman who delivered a letter from Shalit's father to the premier said yesterday. "Erdogan would be the king of Israel if he could bring him home," Eliko Halit Donmez said. Shalit was captured five years ago by Palestinian groups and is being held by Hamas as a trump card in negotiations with Israel for the release of Palestinian political prisoners. German and Egyptian mediation efforts have thus far failed to win a release. Donmez, who said Erdogan had the most influence over Hamas, gave the premier a letter from Noam Shalit asking him to get involved in efforts to secure the release of his son, who was 19 when he was captured.