Israel searching for missing soldier

JERUSALEM, Aug. 24 (JTA) — The Israel Defense Force has been conducting searches in the Golan Heights for an Israeli soldier reported missing last week. Police said the soldier, Guy Hever, 20, left his base in the north last week in his uniform and carrying his army-issued rifle. His family said Hever was unhappy at the base and had left suddenly. Police said they were investigating all possible explanations, including a possible terrorist kidnapping, murder or suicide. Another Israeli soldier, Sharon Edri, disappeared in central Israel last year after leaving a base on his way home. In April, Israeli security forces, acting on information obtained in part from Palestinian police, found Edri’s body buried in the West Bank village of Tsurif, near Hebron. IDF officials said at the time that Edri was killed by members of a cell of the Hamas military wing that had been responsible for murdering 10 other Israelis and wounding 49 in attacks since the beginning of 1996.