As FM, Liberman had no idea Israelis were captive in Gaza

Like other Knesset members, senior opposition lawmaker says he was surprised to hear citizens had been captured during his tenure

Yisrael Beytenu party chief Avigdor Liberman expressed his surprise Thursday that two Israeli citizens were being held by Hamas, saying that he was kept out of the loop, even though at least one of the captives was nabbed during his tenure as foreign minister in the last government.

Last September, Avraham Mengistu, 28, of Ashkelon, sneaked over the border fence with the Gaza Strip and entered the coastal region for unknown reasons. Mengistu has been held by Hamas ever since, Israeli officials say. Initial reports indicated that he may be suffering from mental illness.

“While I was foreign minister and a member of the cabinet, I wasn’t updated [about the case],” Liberman said Thursday while on a tour of Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. The MK served as foreign minister until May 2015.

Another unnamed Bedouin Israeli man is also allegedly being held by Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since a bloody internecine battle in 2007.

Avraham Mengistu, 28, who is being held captive by Hamas (Facebook)

Questions have already surfaced as to why a gag order on news outlets was placed on this case for such a long period of time and why so many lawmakers were kept out of loop.

“I’m afraid this shows the lesson of past such incidents was not learned,” Liberman said, adding that, “since the Jibril prisoner swap [a 1985 agreement in which 1,150 Palestinian prisoners were released in exchange for three captive IDF soldiers] we paid have unreasonable and high prices.

“I hope decision-makers in this case act according to the recommendation of the Shamgar Commission appointed by the government itself,” he said, referring to a commission formed in the early 2000s that formulated Israel’s policy on negotiating the release of captives and POWs.

Liberman was joining a slew of lawmakers who also complained of having been left in the dark after the gag order on the case was lifted Thursday morning.

“I was astounded. I read about it on [Israeli news site] Ynet this morning, I called the committee administrator and asked him whether the committee had been informed,” said Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Tzachi Hanegbi. He said that he had not heard about the incident since he started to serve as committee chairman over a month ago.

Netanyahu said Thursday afternoon that his government was “working to return the two Israelis who crossed the fence into Gaza.”

“We hold Hamas responsible for their welfare,” he continued. “I have appointed a representative to coordinate all activity on the issue and to be in contact with the families. Yesterday I spoke with the parents and siblings of Avraham Mengistu and I told them that from as the moment the incident became known we have spared no effort to return him to Israel. We agreed to meet soon.”

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who was aware of Mengistu’s presence in the Gaza Strip, confirmed after returning from a work trip to Italy that “two Israeli citizens are held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas.” His comment was the first official confirmation that a second missing Israeli, presumed to be a Bedouin, is also being held by Hamas.

Jonathan Beck contributed to this report.