The news that two Israeli citizens went missing nearly a year ago in Gaza has raised questions about the government’s handling of the disappearances and why it kept quiet about them until now.
Avera Mengistu, 28, a resident of Ashkelon, and an un-named resident of the Bedouin township of Hura separately managed to cross the border to the Gaza Strip in late 2014 and their whereabouts are currently unknown. Israel is officially holding Hamas responsible for the mens’ safety, although Hamas would not acknowledge whether they are holding them.
It is believed that both men, who are known to suffer from mental illnesses, had previously tried to enter Gaza, for reasons that are not clear. In both cases they were seen by IDF soldiers, who did not shoot as they did not seem suspicious, and failed to reach them in time to prevent them from leaving Israel.
The Mengistu family agreed to keep silent on their sons’ plight, under instruction from the Prime Minister’s Office. Only last Thursday, after a court accepted Israeli media’s request to remove a gag-order, was Mr Mengistu’s disappearance reported.
The fact that a gag-order remained in place for so long and that while the case was well-known to journalists and activists in the Israeli-Ethiopian community of which Mr Mengistu is a member, it was not officially reported to either the cabinet or the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, has sparked widespread public criticism.
The uproar grew after a recorded conversation between the Mengistu family and Lior Lotan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s special adviser on missing and kidnapped Israelis emerged in which Mr Lotan appeared to threaten the family. He was heard to say that if they went public or criticised the prime minister’s handling of the case, their son could spend “another year in Gaza”. Mr Netanyahu visited the family on Friday.
Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Monday that the gag-order had been intended to allow the government to secure the release of the two citizens quietly “as a humanitarian matter” and that, unlike in previous cases of captured IDF soldiers, “there will be no (prisoner) deal this time”.
Hamas has not said officially whether they are holding the two Israelis, though unofficial Hamas sources said that neither of them were in custody. They also claimed that former British prime minister Tony Blair was trying to broker their release along with the repatriation of remains of two IDF soldiers killed in Gaza last summer. Israeli officials refused to comment on whether Mr Blair or any other international mediator is involved.
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