Inside the Israel-Syria captive crisis
The story of the young Israeli woman who was arrested in Syria after wandering over the border created a storm in Israel, and raised the troubling issue of religious Jewish girls lured by Arab men (see sidebar).
Last Tuesday afternoon, ministers were summoned to an urgent meeting to discuss what was described as a “security issue.” The summons was delivered to every minister’s office by telephone, and it was held by video conference rather than the less secure Zoom. In a rare move, all the ministers were sworn to secrecy before the meeting began. The details of the meeting were officially censored per Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s request, which led to a wave of rumors.
Yaakov Peri, hostage negotiator until five years ago, tells Mishpacha: “I’m very glad the government convened the moment the alert came through that she had crossed the border. We’ve learned a lesson since the Ron Arad case and others, when valuable time was wasted before the system was activated.”
That sentiment was echoed by Gantz: “As long as it’s in our power to act, we’ll never abandon an Israeli citizen. The State of Israel has always cared for every citizen anywhere in the world. It’s best to wrap up such incidents as quickly as possible, or they can drag on for five or six years.
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