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Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on erev Shabbos 23 Tammuz, visited the family of Avra (Avraham) Mengistu at their home in Ashkelon. Last week a gag order was lifted announcing the Ashkelon resident has been in Hamas-controlled Gaza for the past ten months.

At the end of the over one hour meeting, Prime Minister Netanyahu said “We are doing everything in our ability to return Avra to Israel, just as we are in contact with the family of the other Israeli citizen in order to bring him back to Israel as well. We face a very cynical and cruel enemy that denies the basic humanitarian obligation to send innocent citizens back to their country. We will not slacken and we will do everything necessary in order to bring these citizens back home.”

Mr. Lior Lotan, who serves as the prime minister’s envoy for missing people and hostages visited the Mengistu family home on Wednesday, 21 Tammuz. He permitted the parents to speak with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on his phone. The prime minister promised them everything possible was being done to obtain Avra’s release. Mrs. Agernash Mengistu was crying and told officials that she has not stopped thinking of her son for a moment since his disappearance and she simply want him back home so she can hug him again. Channel 10 News released a recording in which Lotan was rude, unprofessional and even threatening to the family, stating at one point “If you don’t cooperate Avraham will spend another year in Gaza”.

The family explains the video showing her son crossing into Gaza clearly shows no one was trying to stop him, no one was shouting out to him as he kept walking until taken custody in Gaza. They explained this occurred on September 8, 2014 and nothing has been done since then to obtain his release.

Avra’s father, Hail, explained he spoke with Members of Knesset and others to assist and he does not know what else he can do at this stage. He added the family is counting on the government to bring his son home safely.

The family reports that the conversations and the visit by PM Netanyahu has done little to reassure them.

Avraham arrived in Israel in the early 1980s in Operation Moses, he is one of six siblings. His parents divorced three years later. Family friends’ explain an elder brother of Avraham died of starvation and this is now the second tragedy. They explain that Avraham’s situation deteriorated since the petira of his older brother.

Community members are wearing white T-shirts with Avraham’s name and a question mark towards increasing awareness to his plight. Friends of the family and the local community feel the government has not done enough, questioning why the incident was kept out of the media for ten months.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)