Guy Hever. Missing since 1997
Photo: Yedioth Ahronoth archive
Guy Hever's mother wants mediator
Mother of soldier MIA since 1997 returns from US, slams Netanyahu for neglecting her son's case
The mother of Guy Hever, an IDF soldier missing for over 12 years, returned from a round of meetings in the US and criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for neglecting to appoint a mediator for her son.
Rina Hever says Netanyahu promised the family he would appoint a negotiator like Hagai Hadas, who is the government envoy to talks on kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.
While visiting New York and Washington, Hever asked the UN and the US administration for help in finding her son, who went missing in action in 1997. Her meetings were coordinated by the Foreign Ministry.
"This time I had a letter from Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman saying that the ministry was working under the assumption that Guy is in Syria," she said.
Hever, who has for years insisted that her son is being held captive in Syria, says the Defense Ministry "scoffs at the belief that Guy is there", but that the Foreign Ministry was helping her.
"I met with the UN secretary's bureau chief, who is considered close to Bashar Assad, and he does not deny that Guy is in Syria," she said. "He promised to continue to press Syria for information on Guy."
Hever also says she met with the deputy chief of Russia's delegation to the UN as well as Senator John Kerry's team, which handles talks on a missing American ambassador in Syria.
She also met with Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. "Hoenlein told me he prays for Guy all the time and brings him up at every opportunity," she said.
Hever wanted to speak before AIPAC, which had its annual conference while she was there. "I begged them to let me say a few words before the conference but they didn't let me. One of the senior officials there asked me, 'Who is Guy anyway?'"
