$10m reward for Halabi's whereabouts
After investigations into case of missing IDF soldier Majdy Halabi hit dead end, Born to Freedom Foundation offers $10m reward for information that will help locate the soldier
The Born to Freedom Foundation has offered a $10 million reward for information on Druze soldier Majdy Halabi, who went missing in May 2005 from a hitchhiking post.
The decision to offer a monetary reward was made after investigations reached a dead end, Ynet has learned.
Halabi, then 19 years old, apparently left his Dalyat al-Karmel home to head back to his base in Tirat Ha-Carmel, south of Haifa. On the way, he stopped at an ATM and withdrew some money, then bought a soft drink and waited at the hitchhiking post, where he was last seen.
Halabi is 170 cm tall (5'6) and of slim build, with brown eyes and brown hair.
His family only found out a few days later that he never arrived at his military base. Soon realizing that his failure to appear was not a disciplinary issue, the army declared him officially missing.
Since then the military has intensively investigated the case, along with police and private investigators hired by the soldier's friends and family, however to no avail.
All parties involved agree that the investigation has hit a dead end.
Announcing the reward offer, Born to Freedom's director-general Ori Chen said, "We are trying a way that hasn't been attempted yet in Israel, of offering a high monetary reward to whoever provides information that will lead to finding the missing soldier.
"We are working in Israel and abroad, and spreading the message especially to places where there may be a chance to find information. Almost every night, we broadcast films to Iran, we publish notices in Islamic community's newspapers in Iran where activists from Syria and Lebanon live."
The Born to Freedom Foundation was originally established to help locate Israeli air force navigator, Captain Ron Arad, who was taken hostage in Lebanon in 1987. Since then, the organization has aided in attempts to gather information on other missing soldiers Yehuda Katz, Zvi Feldman, Sultan Yakub, Guy Hever and Majdy Halabi.
Halabi's family believe the boy was kidnapped and held hostage in Syria, Lebanon or the Palestinian territories. However, the defense establishment has not confirmed this theory.
There are currently $10 million rewards offered for information that will lead to the location of the other missing soldiers as well.
