Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today visited relatives of a citizen reportedly held captive by Hamas after a top aide apologised for telling them he would suffer if they went public.
Avraham Mengistu is one of two Israelis whose suspected detention in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip was revealed yesterday after a gag order was lifted.
The defence ministry confirmed that Mengistu, of Ethiopian descent, had been missing, presumed held captive, since crossing into the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip last September.
The lifting of a 10-month gag order allowed private Channel 10 television to air audio of Lior Lotan -- coordinator of prisoner of war and missing in action affairs in Netanyahu's office -- haranguing Mengistu's family.
Lotan's comments were widely condemned by the media as intimidation.
"He has apologised for both the tone and content of the conversation," an official told AFP.
Netanyahu's office said the premier had an hour-long meeting with the family at their Ashkelon home Friday.
"We are doing everything in our ability to return Avra to Israel, just as we are in contact with the family of the other Israeli citizen in order to bring him back to Israel as well," Netanyahu said afterwards.
Israel does not allow its citizens to enter Gaza, partly out of fears that they may be used as bargaining chips to demand concessions, including the release of prisoners.
Israeli authorities strove to keep the plight of the two citizens secret to the extent that then foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman and members of the parliamentary defence and foreign affairs committee said they had been kept totally unaware.
Parliament admitted a breakdown in the work of its intelligence oversight subcommittee.
"In this case it appears that there was a specific failure. We shall study the case and ensure that it is not repeated," it said late Thursday.
The second Israeli believed held captive in Gaza is an Arab, about whom details are still under court-imposed restrictions.
Mengistu belongs to Israel's 135,000-strong ethnic Ethiopian community which says it suffers from racism and discrimination.
