Two Israeli teen-age boys who were missing for a week returned safely Thursday from Jordan, successful in their quest to see the famed ancient city of Petra but regretful over the commotion they caused their family and the government.
Shortly before 10:30 Thursday morning, Hananel Shear-Yashuv and Lior Mizrahi of Jerusalem crossed the Allenby Bridge between Jordan and Israel, bringing a happy end to the drama of their disappearance.
“I believe we have acted very foolishly,” Mizrahi said, after a six-hour interrogation by police. “Our action was irresponsible, we endangered ourselves enormously, and only with the help of God are we alive in Israel.”
The youths, both 17, were first reported to have vanished while on a trip to the Arava. They had not told their parents where they were going, but they were seen getting off a bus at Be’er Menucha, about 55 miles north of Eilat and 25 miles due west of Petra, a fabled city of Nabatean ruins and a favorite secret getaway of Israelis.
The youths took off their kipot and crossed the border the night of Aug. 26, reaching Petra and touring the site the entire next day, taking many photographs.
The following day found them out of Jordanian dinars, which they had purchased in East Jerusalem, so they hitchhiked south to the Red Sea port of Aqaba, in an attempt to cross over to Eilat.
They said they were scared to return the same way they came because the Jordanian army had noticed them when they had first infiltrated and had set off light flares.
STOPPED AT ROADBLOCK
Near Aqaba, the two boys were stopped at a roadblock after they failed to present their passports. They then were transferred to Amman, where they were interrogated by Jordanian security forces, who were reportedly unaware of efforts to find and release them made by the International Red Cross, the United States, Germany and Italy.
The youths said they were treated well, and offered good food, but they would not touch most of it because they feared it was not kosher. They got by eating fruits and vegetables.
Shear-Yashuv’s father, Rabbi Aharon Shear-Yashuv, a German convert to Judaism, had asked the German Embassy to intervene in his capacity as a German citizen.
But the Italians were especially helpful, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who said Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti had intervened to secure the boys’ release.
Andreotti reportedly telephoned Jordan’s King Hussein to personally intercede on behalf of the teen-agers. Andreotti called Mordechai Drori, Israeli’s ambassador to Italy, on Wednesday night to tell him that the boys were well and would be returned Thursday.
Netanyahu said there had been no deal made with the Jordanian authorities for the boys’ release, and expressed appreciation for Jordan’s “humanitarian act.”
Later Thursday they were back home, safe and sound with their families. However, they face possible charges of illegal border-crossing and causing of public damage due to the efforts and resources devoted by security forces to search for them.
The maximum punishment for illegal border-crossing is four years’ imprisonment.
Rabbi Shear-Yashuv said he was very glad to see his son safe and sound, but said he would have a “strong” talk with him because he regarded his action as a “very grave matter.”
The father of Lior Mizrachi initially condemned his son’s adventure and expressed the hope that other youths would not try to imitate him. However, he added that he did not think the boys should be punished for an act of teen-age foolishness.
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