The disappearance of an Israeli man near Hebron last Thursday that was originally feared to be a terror kidnapping quickly developed into a bizarre case of wilful disappearance.

Thousands of soldiers and police officers, assisted by helicopters and the Shin Bet, were deployed last Thursday afternoon after Eran Negauker, a career IDF NCO, reported that his friend, Niv Assraf, had disappeared.

Negauker told the Israeli police that Assraf had gone in search of a spare tyre in a Palestinian village near Hebron.

A heightened terror alert in the West Bank around Pesach led the security forces to fear that Assraf had been abducted. Thousands of Palestinians living in the area were put under curfew as the IDF set up roadblocks to stop a potential getaway vehicle.

But as Negauker was questioned, the gaps in his version indicated that there were other reasons for the disappearance. Police began to suspect that Assraf had been trying to carry out a drug deal when Negauker broke down and claimed that their intention had been to make Assraf's estranged girlfriend concerned for his safety. Assraf was located shortly after midnight in a wadi near the village.

The two young men spent Seder night under arrest and were released on bail on Sunday. Police would like to prosecute them for wasting police resources, conspiracy to commit a crime and fraud.