A man who says he was sent to France for medical treatment by the Israeli army in 1949 has just been released from a French psychiatric hospital after 35 years.
According to 54-year-old Yosef Amzallag, he was sent to a French hospital after having served seven months in the Israeli Defence Force. Since then he seems to have been forgotten by all, he says.
Amzallag, who was released Friday by the Saint Albain Hospital in central France, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency: “I don’t know how all this happened. I still consider myself an Israeli soldier.”
The Israeli Consul in Paris, Joel Gilat, said the military authorities and the Ministry of Interior are trying to trace Amzallag’s origin and verify his story. “At first glance it is hard to believe that the proper administration could have forgotten this man’s existence, “Gilat said. He added that verification might take a few days because the staffs of the Ministry of Interior and the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem are presently on strike. He said however, that everything is being done to ascertain the facts.
RESTAURANTEUR HELPED GAIN RELEASE
Amzallag was released after a Tel Aviv restaurant owner, Elie Ronnen, who learned of his story when it was published in the Israeli daily, Yedioth Actronot, took up his case. Ronnen, who was in Paris on his way back to Israel from Morocco, contacted the hospital.
He told JTA: “To my considerable surprise the doctor in charge of Amzallag’s case told me that medically nothing stands in the way of his release.” Ronnen said he was told by the hospital that if Amzallag was not released earlier it was because no one had ever asked the hospital to release him.
Amzallag says he has two brothers and two sisters in Israel. One of his brothers contacted the hospital in 1982 but failed to obtain his release.
Ronnen says hospital doctors told him they contacted the Jewish Agency in Marseilles, on at least five occasions to draw its attention to Amzallag’s existence and his internment but received no reply.
According to the Moroccan born Ronnen, Amzallag might have been sent to France by the Israeli authorities in 1949. because unofficial policy at the time was not to accept as immigrants people with mental problems. Amzallag may have had psychiatric problems at the time, when he was 19.
The JTA correspondent saw Amzallag, who looks much older than his 54 years, calm and taciturn. He speaks a few words of Hebrew and some Arabic as well as French. He claims to be Israeli and says ” I want to go home. “
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