20 years on, mother of missing soldier refuses to give up hope

Twenty years have passed since Cpl. Guy Hever vanished without a trace. Hever was 20 years old when he disappeared on Aug. 17, 1997, after leaving his base in the Golan Heights. Search efforts over the years have uncovered no clues of what may have happened to him.

Surrounded by family and friends in her home in Kochav Yair, Guy's mother Rina said, "The hope every year that something will happen and Guy will come home is what keeps us holding on. My hope is that I will get to see Guy."

Rina told Israel Hayom that elite IDF forces sent out to look for clues of Guy's disappearance two months ago came up with nothing and that Maj. Gen. Moti Almoz, who heads the IDF Personnel Directorate, had decided to pause the search efforts and devise a new strategy on the case.

"Even today, it is clear that my son is alive. I am a mother, and I feel him. And they have not brought me anything that proves otherwise. Guy disappeared completely. All of the searches so far have never found anything of his, not a weapon, not shoes, not a military dog tag -- nothing. And the address is [Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu. When he decides [he wants] to provide a shred of information about Guy, he will do so. "

Rina said that because Netanyahu is "above the security forces," she expects him to do more than just talk about the Shin Bet security agency and the Military Intelligence Directorate's efforts to find her son.

"Sentences like 'What if this had happened to my son Avner-' are no longer enough for us," she said.

Despite the many years that have passed, Rina said she would still be able to recognize him.

"Since Guy looks just like his father, his grandfather and his great-grandfather, I could identify him even at 80 years old. They have the same very, very unique facial structure, a confident and playful look in the eye -- even when he was 1 year old, when he was 20 and still today. The look would be the same look."

Rina says her feelings on the anniversary of his disappearance are no different than usual.

"It's no different from any other day, except for the fact that the media is cooperating and isn't forgetting [about us]."

Rina said she plans to fly to the United States in October to raise awareness to Guy's case and to meet with officials who might be able to provide her with information in the future.

"It's not the first time we are directing our efforts abroad. For 20 years, the family has been going to Germany, Switzerland, Paris and other countries. We tried to meet with the Syrian rebels. The mind is constantly thinking, 24 hours [a day], in parallel to our normal lives."

In a statement, the Prime Minister's Office said efforts to determine Hever's fate and bring him back home were ongoing and involved the defense system, the Foreign Ministry and the Israel Police, and that they are in constant contact with the family.