Stuart Winer is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
Police appealed to the public on Wednesday to help in locating a missing soldier amid fears he may take his own life.
Liraz Benbenishti (courtesy Israel Police)
Liraz Benbenishti, 20, left his base near Gedera on Tuesday and police said he was seen on Medinat Hayehudim Street in Herzliya later that day. However, since then he has vanished without a trace.
Benbenishti, who serves in the air force, is from Ramat Gan and was wearing his uniform when last seen.
According to Maariv, the soldier had recently clashed with his commanding officer over a court martial he was facing concerning damage to a computer program. After his family contacted police about his disappearance, police investigators studied his home computer and discovered that Benbenishti has recently been browsing websites that address methods of suicide.
Police and Military Police investigators have tried to locate the soldier by tracking his mobile phone but the trail went cold after the device was turned off on Tuesday night.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Editionby email and never miss our top stories
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
