Sunday, November 13, 2016

Exorbitant amount of missing Jews in Israel - are some the victims of nationalist crimes against Jews? And Israel Dog Unit Update

B”H
Please read this important IDU – Israel Dog Unit update – And Please help circulate photos of new missing people

1.      Updates re recent searches for missing people in Israel
2.      ANOTHER DIFFERENT MISSING PERSON FOUND, THANK G-D
3.      Urgent notices regarding  2 “new” missing people in Israel
4.      Some cases may lead us to Arab terrorists who kidnapped or murdered a missing person
5.      Dog training schedule for the upcoming two weeks

1-Updates re recent searches by IDU - Israel Dog Unit
Tuesday night, Nov. 8th 2016 (L’Minyanam) the Israel Dog Unit (IDU) received a request from the Israeli police in Rosh HaAyin to help with the search for a missing 27 year old autistic “haredi” man who resides in a hostel on Etzel Street in Rosh Haayin. The man had left a packing center that employs him in Petach Tiqwa at 9:00 AM on Jabotinsky Street in Petach Tiqwa, Monday morning, never to have been seen again. The man, who never went missing for more than a few hours in the past, was already missing for more than 24 hours when we were called into the search. He allegedly was reported to have regularly walked home, all of the way through the fields between Petach Tikva and Rosh Haayin, alongside the highway 483 and then to cut through the tree-line and fields alongside highway 444 that borders on Etzel Street.



We were told that the police had sent up a helicopter over the area, (but for whatever reason, perhaps the fog, the police were not satisfied with the helicopter search). We happened to be in Petach Tikva when we got the call, having a handful of dogs and some equipment, and needing to pass through the area on the way back to Tapuach, where we could get more dogs, volunteers and equipment. We were confident that Hatzalah and ZAKA would continue with the urban part of the search near his work-place and so we drove through the route near the fields where we later commenced the search with the dogs, at sunrise Wednesday morning. While it was clear to us, that he would more likely still be in close proximity to his work place in Petach Tiqva, we realized that if, G-d forbid, he was wounded and laying in the fields, he would unlikely survive too much longer as the weather was heating up, and without water he would not last more than 3-4 days. We now entered day two, since he was reported missing. Time was of the essence.

We met with the police officer in charge of the search and with the parents of the missing person at the police station. The police allowed us to run the investigation and to interview the family. Ironically, the police officers placed in charge of any given search are usually the highest ranking officer on duty at that time in the given precinct where the missing-person-complaint was filed. He is often not an expert in conducting searches for missing people and usually runs investigations about theft, rape, murder or any other current files placed on his desk. The officer sat there as I grilled the parents with the relevant questions to build the profile of the missing person and to decide where to start the search. After I finished the questioning, the officer commended us and said that he had learned a lot from our questions and that he had no further questions. The police were visibly thrilled that we were on the scene. They don’t actually search, but at best drive around on the streets or trails with their jeeps. We also shared with them our new technology to manage searches, in the form of a new smartphone application that enables us to interact with all of our dog handlers on a search, where we can watch at the command center the movement of all of our searchers. Each searcher is seen on the screen in their own color. All movements are merged simultaneously with all the people who have searched on a map.



We now had to set out for the actual search. We set up camp near Etzel Street across from a gas station, adjacent to a bus stop not presently in use due to construction. I was excited to start the search especially in view of the fact that we had another unresolved case of an elderly Alzheimer patient who went missing from that exact spot three years ago. While 3 years is a long time, we thought we might be lucky and come across some lead or bones connected to the other case as well to help bring him to a proper Jewish burial. Naturally our priority was to save a life, and find the younger missing man who would hopefully still be alive. However, you never know what we might come across. One of the elderly man’s sons, a dayan – a rabbinic judge in Jerusalem, calls us from time to time asking us to look for his father. We never have much of a chance due to the influx of urgent life-or-death new cases.

Once we set up our make-shift command center, the police together with Yaniv Finkel the Deputy Police Chief of the Rosh HaAyin precinct came to visit us and to observe our techniques, dogs in action and learn more about our proprietary search application.
See below the pics attached. We also brought along our drone to help in the search of the fields.

E.M.F. Our Missing Person Found, Alive-And-Well

To make a long story short, the day came and the day left, and our missing person had still not been found. We opened our folding beds up to get some sleep late Wednesday night to resume the search Thursday morning. We bought a second-hand bicycle from a garage-sale near the hostel, which was quite useful on the search. Thursday morning we learned that our missing person was found in Petach Tiqva, not far from where he had gone missing, 3 days after his disappearance. I was not sorry that spent the time searching the fields. I was happy he was found in the city. I would have been much more sorry had he been found a week later, dead in the fields.

OFF TO ANOTHER SEARCH

In the meantime Freddy and Shimon were on their way to help with the search. Our plans were to continue on to Haifa to finish with the search for Shlomo Didya, who had gone missing weeks ago in Haifa but who we had yet to find. We had a number of areas that we still wanted to search with cadaver dogs. However, we were all exhausted from the Rosh HaAyin search. Thus, we sent Shimon and Fred to conduct the search in Haifa through the night and we planned on setting off Thursday morning to help them, if there were still places left to search. We ended up leaving for Haifa and searching until about 1 AM Friday morning, with no results. We still have more to do in Haifa and the search is time-sensitive, while not as much a priority as searching for a person who may still be alive and in need of rescue. However, it is still important to recover a body as soon as possible since there may be little or nothing left of the body by now, as animals are known to eat people in the wilderness, sometimes within a matter of weeks.



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2-GREAT NEWS - A DIFFERENT MISSING PERSON FOUND, THAN K G-D

While we were searching a nearby forest in Kiryat Atta, for Shlomo Didya, we got a call from Kiryat Atta police (It is all meshamayim) that a 57 year old mentally retarded woman had gone missing in none other than Kiryat Atta. Dudi our IDU – Israel Dog Unit Chief of Operations and Haifa Commander, left us to check out the details of the new case. Within a matter of minutes, without exaggeration, I got a call from Dudi to come immediately, he had found the woman. I arrived on the scene before the police to see the family and the police congratulate Dudi, and to see the wonderful reunification of the family, as tears of joy trickled down their faces. See photo of the woman and her brother walking away, after Dudi’s magnificent finding and rescue of the woman who was wandering about aimlessly, confused in a nearby field.



Well, we did not find Didya but we did, at least, find another missing person. We will have to return if we can to resume the Didya search.
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3- NEW MISSING PEOPLE -Please see the two attached files of two new missing people. AND PLEASE SEND THESE PICS ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE ON AND OFFLINE – FACEBOOK AND OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS



One of the new missing people is from Afula and the other an American woman studying to be a nurse in Haifa, who had a breakdown of some sort and went missing. She has no relatives in Israel and a friend reported her missing when she did not show up for classes. A note of distress was found and it is feared that she might have harmed herself. It is likely that we will soon commence the search for this nurse-in-training later today in Haifa. This case has areas that overlap other unresolved cases as well (Neve Shannan).


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4- It is imperative to understand- Some of these unsolved cases may lead us to Arab terrorist perpetrators

 There are hundreds of serious cases of missing people every year in Israel of the 4000 cases reported. In  many of the most serious cases there is no one other than IDU - the Israel Dog Unit to conduct the search in the depth of nearby wilderness. Some of these cases lead us to areas where there are Arab gangs and tribes and we believe that there may be foul play and nationalist motives that could explain some of these disappearances. When we search there are many mitzvoth involved. Naturally, to find and rescue those who are still alive. However, it is also a great mitzvah to find those who may no longer be amongst the living to bring them to a proper Jewish burial, especially where there is none other to perform the “Meit Mitzva”. And if on the way, we can help uncover a gang of terrorists and solve murder cases, and to prevent future kidnappings and murders, this too, is a great mitzvah. We have already found the body of a man who was shot to death.
Please send the photos of the two new missing people and please consider volunteering for the Israel Dog Unit, where you can learn how to search and also learn to be a dog handler for a SAR search and rescue dog. We have dorm facilities for those who wish to learn and to volunteer.

TO DONATE, much needed CONTRIBUTIONS CAN BE SENT TO Maginei Eretz Lmaan Hazulat, POBox 6592 Jerusalem, Israel 91060

Visit our website
www.israel-civilian-k9-unit.org

FUNDS ARE NEEDED. OUR UNIT DOES THE IMPOSSIBLE LEADING THE UNTOLD BATTLE OF THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN FORGOTTEN OR FORSAKEN- THE LOST JEWS OF ISRAEL. OUR UNIT ENGAGES IN MORE IN-DEPTH SEARCHES THAN THE ARMY, POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENT COMBINED. That is a fact. Despite the fact that we are under-funded receiving zero government aid, we continue to operate and never turn down an emergency call for help. The same is true with our Defense Department that raises security dogs for "settlements" in Yesha and for towns throughout Israel. For many Jews our security dogs are their first and last line of defense against terrorists. We have succeeded in preventing many terrorist attacks over our past 16 years of existence.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5f6W8nO5eIWQ3RGVW1tcDg1T2c/view

We have old vehicles that must be replaced, dogs and volunteers who must be fed and maintained, need new equipment and the list goes on . This is clearly a mitzva which is being neglected and which will not be done by others. The local Rabbis, leaders of the local municiplaities and police, army and security chiefs have reccomended supporting our life-saving services. Please consider doing so. It costs no less than 5000 dollars to prepare each and every fully trained service dog, whether it is a security dog or a SAR dog. It costs no less than 10000-15000 dollars per month to maintain the unit. It will cost us no less than 50,000 dollars to purchase newer more reliable emergency response vehicles. It will cost us no less than 30,000 dollars to sponsor a much needed additional drone with night-vision heat-detection capabilities. It will cost us 30,000 dollars to expand our kennels and to build additional dormitory facilities that are much needed. We could use all of the help that we can get at this time.

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5-Dog Training schedule over the next two weeks

Thursday Nov. 17th:
 Training with Zhenya with defense dogs and search and rescue dogs as follows:
Gush Etzyon at 10 AM, in Tapuach at 4:00 PM.

Tuesday Nov. 22:
Training in Gush Etzyon 10AM, (private dog show in Sde Bar 2:00 PM, and training in Kfar Tapuach at 5:00 PM

Please confirm your participation NOW. And then, once again, please call before you set off for the training on the day of the training, to confirm that everything is still on schedule, 0544876709.

Monday, August 29, 2016

More surfaces on the killing of I.D.U. volunteer Shlomo Rindenow and more Israel Dog Unit News and Update

Israel Dog Unit News – I.D.U. in action


1-Kidnapped girl rescued by dog

2-Italian Quake has more than some Israelis on edge - and for good reason. Dogs needed.

3-Efrat dog show later today, Tuesday Aug. 30, 16

4-IDU Gush Etzyon show and training Wednesday morning Aug. 31, 16

5- IDU briefs Hebron families before deployment of new protection dogs

6- Truth leaking out about the killing of I.D.U. volunteer Shlomo Rindenow


1-Kidnapped girl rescued by dog in LA - 

I.D.U. Israel Dog Unit is investing much time and effort into training Israeli tracking/trailing dogs

See the above link about the girl who was found and rescued by a good tracking dog in America, and understand the importance and the significance of supporting  I.D.U. the Israel Dog Unit as we work round-the-clock to train and ready more operational tracking/trailing dogs. We need your support to continue our vital work. Please send your generous contribution to Maginei Eretz LMaan Hazulat – POBox 6592 Jerusalem Israel 91060

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2-Italian quake has some Israelis on edge - I.D.U. Israel Dog Unit working hard to ready Israel


Earthquake in Italy –was a wake-up call for some Israelis. – I.D.U. Israel Dog Unit is working overtime to prepare dogs and volunteers to search under rubble of collapsed buildings (which can be as a result of rocket attacks, gas explosions or earthquakes). (Join training this Thursday near Netanya in IDF rubble site with the I.D.U..) Call 0544876709 if you wish to join.


The Israeli press was inundated with articles about Israel’s lack of state of readiness if G-d forbid there should be an earthquake in the Holy Land, something that Israeli scientists are predicting. It is known that Israel experiences severe quakes every 90 or so years. If this is indeed the case, then Israel could suffer an earthquake in the very near future. Experts predict that such a quake could leave thousands dead and thousands more trapped alive under the rubble. Good SAR dogs that are trained to sniff people trapped beneath the collapsed buildings could save hundreds if not thousands of lives.
It is for this reason that the Israel Dog Unit is working harder than ever to ready as many dogs and handlers as possible.

Please send your generous contribution to Maginei Eretz LMaan Hazulat – POBox 6592 Jerusalem Israel 91060
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3- I.D.U. to participate in Efrat Dog show today Tuesday 30.08.16 16.00 PM call 0526919989 for info

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4- I.D.U. Gush Etzyon dog show Wednesday 31.08.16

9.30 AM dog show near Gush Etzyon, then training . 5.00 PM training in Tapuach
Thursday – training with SAR dogs on rubble site near Netanya afternoon/evening
Call to confirm coming 0544876709
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5- Hebron I.D.U. conference about security dogs readies new families and handlers entering into the protection- dog program


I.D.U. to allocate security dog for the family of Hallel Ariel HY”D, the 13 year old girl who was murdered in her bed by an Arab terrorist last month.
I.D.U. to allocate protection dog for the family of Noam Federman in Kiryat Arba. Authorities have warned him that his name appears on a terrorist hit-list. Arabs who were recently spotted surveilling Federman’s farm, managed to evade capture and arrest after jumping a nearby fence and escaping the Federmans and IDF troops who were in hot-pursuit of them.
IDU to allocate security dog for the family of Arella Levy in Mitzpeh Yair. Arella is the humble engineer and tour guide who found and recovered the bodies of the three Jewish teens, who were kidnapped and buried in Beit Kahil two years ago.

Please send your generous contribution to Maginei Eretz LMaan Hazulat – POBox 6592 Jerusalem Israel 91060
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6- More truth revealed about the killing of I.D.F. soldier and I.D.U. volunteer Shlomo Rindenow, killed by stolen grenade in Golan last month




Is the untimely death of Shlomo Rindenow another killing whitewashed by Israeli leaders with a crooked agenda to feed us more lies about peace, love and coeexistence?


Are we, the Israeli public, mere pawns in their satanic political chess game being fed lies about Jews who were “accidentally” murdered, lest we demand action and upset the delicate balance of relations between Jews and gentiles in the land?

Regardless, it is becoming clearer and clearer that Justice for Shlomo Rindenow, is not something the IDF will volunteer to do without public pressure from those who care about Shlomo’s memory and about future cover-ups.

Mekor Rishon’s weekend edition 28.8.16 lminyanam revealed chilling testimony by Ilanit Shaharabni the mother of Ofek, the commander who was also wounded in the mysterious grenade explosion that killed Shlomo Rindenow. Until that eye-opening interview with Ilanit very few facts have surfaced in the media to explain the circumstances in this bizarre incident that left two soliders dead and three others injured. Thus far, all that has leaked out through the media is that Hussam Taffash the driver of the jeep exited the vehicle with a stolen hand grenade, and that seconds later Shlomo, who was standing outside of the jeep was killed together with Hassam Taffash himself.

Ofek Shaharabani has now shed much more light on the situation through his mother Ilanit, quoting her injured son. According to Shaharabani, the driver of the jeep exited the car with a hand grenade with intent to scare or harass Shlomo. Shaharabani, the commander, said, he left the jeep and said, “watch how I scare Shlomo.” Ofek added that while he was unaware what the Druze driver was carrying, he soon saw the pin of the grenade fall on the floor and next came the explosion. After that, he remembered nothing, as he was critically wounded and unconscious himself. In an earlier interview Ofek Shaharabani was quoted saying that he shouted “no” to Hassam, before he killed Shlomo. Ofek who lost an eye and all movement on one side of his body and who has experienced a partial yet miraculous recovery, was not initially told about Shlomo’s death. The first thing he asked about while recovering in the hospital was, “How is his soldier Shlomo?”

The army is being charged with covering-up the true circumstances that led to Shlomo’s death so as not to upset Jew-Druze relations. Thus far the IDF refuses to publish its findings saying only that the investigation is still pending. In the meantime, the media has erroneously equated the killer and his victim with headlines such as, “Two soldiers killed in Golan grenade explosion.”

No media outlet or IDF spokesman has even suggested the possibility that the Druze soldier might have killed Shlomo intentionally or accidentally while trying to threaten and intimidate him.
Is this another cover up to mislead the Israeli public lest they learn the real truth about the flimsy coexistence between Jews and Druze in the land of Israel?

Is this case a rerun of the Natanel Arami murder that authorities tried to pawn off to his family and to the public as an accident? The police later conceded that Arabs cut his rope while he was rappelling down a building. Is this another replica of the Moshe Talabi Murder case? It took the police years to admit that Talabi was murdered and that he did not commit suicide.


The killing of Shlomo Rindenow  is reminiscent of those cases, where it took public pressure from the family and friends of the victims before police conceded that they were in fact nationalist hate crimes.  We saw this same type of cover-up with the stone-throwing murder of Asher Palmer and his son Yonatan and in the murder of Shelly Dadon, and so many others. What won’t the Israeli authorities and media do to distort the truth? Everything and anything goes in the holy battle to broadcast lies to the Jews about how much our enemies love us. The fact is that more and more Israeli Arabs openly endorse the most radical Islamic factions. The fact is that more and more young Druze openly identify with the terrorist struggle of the so called Palestinians. That which was, is not necessarily that which is. Young Druze are not old Druze. Times have changed. 

Was this a deliberate nationalist murder? Was this only a dangerous game to intimidate Shlomo that went awry? I don’t know the answer to those questions. But I can not say that I trust the IDF to volunteer the truth, without pressure from Jews who honor the memory of Shlomo Rindenow and who seek justice for Shlomo.  

I.D.U. The Israel Dog unit that Shlomo had served in before he enlisted into the IDF, will continue to demand answers and to demand that the I.D.F. publish its findings. There is little to investigate here, other than 2-3 eyewitnesses and friends of the killer and his victim, to learn more about any earlier quarrel that might have existed between the two. Nonsense about needing more time to investigate is an insult to our intelligence, the deceased and to his bereaved family. I can’t be certain that this is again the case. However, if it is not so, then what have they to hide?


Please send your generous contribution to Maginei Eretz LMaan Hazulat – POBox 6592 Jerusalem Israel 91060

Monday, May 30, 2016

I.D.U. - The Israel Dog Unit deploys new dogs

I.D.U deploys new dogs with their new handlers

Over recent weeks The I.D.U. - Israel Dog Unit has commenced training of a dozen new handlers, some of whom have already received service dogs and deployed them in their yishuvim - towns.



Rooky, a beautiful Mallinois Shepherd that we recently imported from Holland, trained for patrol work, has been placed with Louis on the Tapuach Hill. Shalom, of Itamar has recently received Rick, a Belgium Shepherd from the Czech Republic.

In Bat Ayin, Hershkow exhibits attack work with "Chomper" 8 month old pup

Rabbi Gadi Shalvin of Maalot David, on Har Hazeitim (near Maaleh Zeitim) received Liz, a German Shepherd that we also imported recently from Europe.
Rabbi Shalvin and some of his kids with "Liz" their new protection dog


Elaad from Kochav Yaakov, received "Nes", a German Shepherd trained for patrol work. Elaad serves as a member of the emergency response team of Kochav Yaakov. Tony in Elaazar received Ugree, a dog that was born in our Tapuach training program and trained for defense work. Yosef of Avinadav, in the outskirts of Jerusalem received Zoma a dog bred in our Tapuach breeding program and trained for SAR- Search and Rescue by Caryn and Nachshon of our Sdei Bar Branch.

Caryn Yavin our dog-trainer from Sde Bar hands "Zoma" to Yosef -, his new handler 


 Nitai from Itamar’s Hitsim Yeshiva, who resides in Shevut Rachel, near Shilo is due to receive "Bongo" another Mallinois SAR dog that was born in Tapuach in our own breeding program and trained in Tapuach. Raffi, Natan and Azarya all from the hills of Itamar have also entered into our defense-dog training program with their own dogs. This is only a partial list.

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More than 40 people are "knocking down our doors," competing to receive one of our 6 new pups

The pups when they were newly born to "Sven" and "Tiger"

Our new pups that were bred from our top two service dogs are in heavy demand. More than 40 people are competing to be one of the six lucky handlers to adopt one of our new pups designated to become defense or Search and Rescue Dogs. There are only 6 pups, 3 male and 3 female in this stunning litter.

It seems that 16 years of serving the Jewish community by providing excellent dogs, and training them for active service has left an imprint on the Israeli Security and Rescue Industry. It is evident from the huge demand for our pups that our name precedes us throughout the land. Top trainers have called, eager to purchase pups from our blood-line of service dogs. Security Chiefs from Judea and Samaria are waiting on line to receive a pup. Policeman, IDF soldiers, border policeman and fire-fighters have shown great interest. And the list goes on. The pups are now almost 6 weeks old and almost ready to be stationed with their handlers to enter into our training program. These four-legged heroic soldiers will, G-d willing, develop into adult dogs that will play a role in protecting and rescuing many Jews in Israel.

Some will be security dogs while others will work to find missing people or victims trapped under
buildings that could collapse, G-d forbid, as a result of earthquakes, missile attacks or gas explosions, etc.

Recent training at a simulated earthquake site. Experts predict Israel could be in for a major earthquake in the near future.
Naturally we will try to deploy the pups with the most serious handlers who will pledge to properly maintain the dogs and who will be most committed and dedicated to the cause of operating a service dog with the intention of saving lives in Israel.

To join the Israel dog unit or to help sponsor dogs and their volunteer handlers, please call us in Israel 0544876709 or in on our U.S. phone number 9174750789. Contributions can be sent to "Maginei Eretz LMaan Hazulat" POBox 6592 Jerusalem, Israel.

The Lost Jews of Israel - Diary of a missing person - Igor Vareby

Diary of a Missing Person – The Lost Jews of Israel – Igor Vareby, still at large 



IDU poster with photo of Igoir Vareby - please help circulate online and offline
The gas station where we set up camp, near the place where we had found Meir Levy
I write this summary of the log of our search for Igor Vareby from the Yovel Delek Gas Station on Moshe Dayan Street that sits on the border of Bat Yam and Holon, Israel. This gas station is a nostalgic one for The I.D.U. Israel Dog Unit. It was near here two years ago where we found Meir Levy’s body a week after he was murdered by Erez Shmeil, a professional soccer player with Beitar-Jaffa. Meir Levy was a well-known philanthropic money-changer who had loaned 300,000 shekels to Shmeil. Shmeil was convicted of shooting Levy to death and then chucking his body several hundred yards south of this gas station, hidden under a plank in a vacant lot. It was a miracle that we found Levy. Had we listened to the police, Levy’s body most likely would never have been recovered.

Meir Levy

The cops were wrong again, and no riches, but at least some pizza for the hungry volunteers
The police tried to dissuade us from searching the area that they had supposedly searched thoroughly prior.  That did not stop the cops from taking credit for the find. What else is new? That’s all history now. Levy’s nephew promised to sponsor our dog in a huge way. I still remember his promise: “Never Again will you guys drive around in these jalopies." We still have the same old cars, but at least he did buy the volunteers pizza and fill up the cars with gas after we helped find his uncle Meir. This was particularly appreciated, at the time, in view of the fact that the guys were famished and we did not have money to  fuel the cars up to get back to Tapuach that night.

The gas station owner should be commended – for letting us turn his place into our base of operations
Now, we return again to the area to search for Igor Vareby. Moe-mie, the gas station owner is kind enough to let us set up our Command Center here. We found a nice shady spot for our van and mobile-mini-kennel right across from the table I sit at which has a convenient umbrella to shade the computer and maps, and a socket to plug our electrical gadgets into. And let’s not forget restrooms and other conveniences that we often lack at our make-shift search-command-centers. Moe-mie was thrilled to partake in the mitzvah-good deed of helping us with the search by providing table, chair and parking space for our big van and kennel-wagon. He asked if we could find him a retired service dog that he could adopt. I promised Moe-mie that we would have him in mind when we pass on our next retired  dog. I took Moe-mie’s number and gave him my card. I have a feeling we might need to call him not only to give him a dog that’s ready for pension, and not only to use his gas station as a base of operations on this search for Igor Vareby. Something tells me that the little jungle behind his gas station might be a place where we will need to search for others in the future.

HaYovel Delek Gas Station - where we set up camp - May 29

We widen the search
It is now 7 PM, Sunday May 29th L'minyanam. I am waiting for our two search teams to return. Aryeh and Akiva are searching with "Milo", a very sharp cadaver dog. (At the time I thought they were with Milo, I later learned that they thought the terrain could be covered fine without a dog). There are large areas behind the gas station in the direction of Rishon LTziyon, with a swamp, trees and all kinds of rough brush and terrain. Israel is a unique land to search in. Urban searches turn into forest-like terrain in a matter of meters. Right behind a train station and a highway you can find a mini-jungle. The area is approximately 1000-1500 yards away from Eli Cohen Street where Igor’s home is.

Ephraim L is searching another area by bike within 1000 yard radius of Igor’s home, looking for any building sites or abandoned homes where Igor could be. Ephraim L recently finished his army service. I don’t know what we would do without Ephraim. He drives the truck to most searches. He is a talented and skilled navigator. Without Ephraim we would probably end up spending most of our time searching for our own volunteers, who would likely get lost themselves while searching for our missing people. In fact, I am embarrassed to admit that Ephraim led such a rescue team to find me and a few others, a few weeks back when we ended up losing our way in the Northern Shomron, in the Henanit Forest while looking for a jogger who got lost, near an Arab village. Nes, the tracking dog helped track me down when Ephraim L and Paul gave him my spare pair of shoes that were left behind in the car. At least we now know Nes, the tracking dog that we recently imported from Holland indeed tracks well. She led them right to Louis, myself and the clueless cop that joined us on that search.

Receiving an award from the Haifa police for finding a missing person there.

Igor Vareby and Eli Cohen Street
Igor Vareby left his house Thursday May 19th at 5 AM and was never seen again. He left his cellular phone, wallet, cash, car keys and a letter on his kitchen table. Igor was 47 when he left his elderly mother in their shared apartment on Eli Cohen Street in Bat Yam. Eli Cohen is more than just a street in every town in Israel. Eli Cohen was a legendary and heroic Israeli spy. Ironically Eli Cohen's name  was mentioned in the media yesterday, as news surfaced about allegations that Israel was holding an Iranian general kidnapped 30 years ago in Lebanon. Some reports claimed that Israel was currently holding behind-the-scenes negotiations to exchange the old, Iranian general with Eli Cohen’s body believed to be held by Syria. Eli Cohen would also be the name of one of the cops who almost arrested Ephraim L - one of our searchers on this search - more on that debacle, later.  It seems that not only streets in Israel are named after Eli Cohen but many people are also named after this national hero. One of our noble volunteers searching for Igor of Eli Cohen Street, would soon be detained by Eli Cohen, the cop. Eli Cohen, the spy, not the cop, was a famous Israeli spy who had penetrated the highest echelons of the Syrian government and military. His cover was blown and he was killed by the Syrians. Cohen's body was never recovered, despite Israel’s efforts. Now we are trying our best to recover Igor’s body and the last place we know he was seen was on Eli Cohen Street.

Eli Cohen, caught spying for Israel in Damascus
I am sorry to say it – but the police seemed to have messed this one up miserably
Had the police or the family phoned us that morning when Igor went missing, we likely could have tracked the initial direction that Igor walked in with our newly trained tracking dogs. Unfortunately we were not called in until four days later. And even then, police blunders led us to turn around after the cops erroneously reported that our Igor had been found. They mistook him for another missing person.
Valuable days were lost in the search that should have been for Igor. Police waited days before they declared Igor to be a missing person in high risk. This case should have sounded an immediate mental-alarm at police headquarters. Igor, 47, had a serious argument with his brother the night before he went missing. The argument was “about money” that Igor owed to his brother Slava. Igor left his documents, passport, wallet, money and phone on his kitchen table. He also left his brother a letter apologizing for all of the sorrow that he had caused him and stating that his brother would no longer have to worry about him causing any more problems.  At 5 AM Igor sent a text message to his 2 daughters, writing how much he loved them. He then sent another message to his brother Slava, again reiterating how sorry he was. He placed the phone on the table and left, never to be seen again. As we later would learn when meeting Igor’s landlord, the day before he disappeared he left a post-dated check for 2915 shekels to cover past monies owed and next month’s rent.

Important background information is learned piece by piece
I asked Slova, Igor’s brother if he had any relatives buried in the nearby cemetery, which is always a good place to search. Often people contemplating suicide first visit a loved one’s grave and start their journey from that spot. They are often found dead or injured overlooking the grave of a loved one. Let us remember, many people leave in a fit of rage with intent to harm themselves, but if given the opportunity they calm down and hesitate to make that final step of suicide. Often enough people can be found and saved to yet live long and happy lives. However, sometimes in their rage and anger they can find themselves deep in a wooded area, injured, dehydrated etc..How many nooses around necks have we found, with the obvious signs that the person tried to fight off his own suicide. We had a case in Ashdod where you can see the hands between the noose and the neck with the person unsuccessfully trying to fight his way free. Many suicide victims have second thoughts.

It is our job to find these missing people as quickly as we can. In many cases we have found the people when it was already too late. This, too, is a great mitzvah-good deed to at least recover the body while the body is still whole. Slovic replied, “Come to think of it our dad is buried in Russia, He died at the young age of 47. Igor is the same age now.  In fact dad’s birthday was May 22.  Igor had said that he would likely die the same age as dad, and that he would likely be dead by dad’s birthdate.” Igor disappeared 3 days prior to his dad’s birthday. This was being told to me Wednesday May 25th. It became clear to me that we are looking for someone who planned to never again return home again. Even if he was only injured in the wild, or in a nearby deserted building or near a local swamp, he would have had little chance surviving through the extremely hot days that followed his disappearance. How long could he last without water? Perhaps 2 days in that intense heat. We started the search with cadaver dogs 6 days after Igor had disappeared.

It is neglected cases like this when we at I.D.U. are most needed
It is frustrating to know that it is possible that Igor could have been found alive or effectively tracked had we known about the case earlier. However, it gets more frustrating. We initially learned about the case on Monday, 4-5 days after he went missing. The police published an ad on the official police website asking for the public to help locate him. We were unsuccessful in reaching the investigator in charge of the search, or the number published on the police ad. There was no active search as far as we could tell. I had no idea where to start. I called the police and many contacts in the police and IDF, to no avail. Nobody was home. Despite the lack of information I felt that this was a case we had to work on. It seemed nobody else cared and that this case had fallen between the chairs, a Russian immigrant without much family and no political connections, coupled by police laziness or incompetency, or both. On Tuesday I decided to go to Eli Cohen Street to seek out potential family members. I had no clue where to start.

Man plans and G-d laughs.
Tuesday we got called elsewhere. Tuesday May 24th, the Jerusalem police called us to the capital to help search for Abir, a teen who went missing and whose phone indicated that he was in a nearby forest. Abir, the missing teen could more likely be found alive. We went to look for Abir in Jerusalem, with intent to continue on to Holon-Bat Yam to look for Igor if and when Abir would be found. In the meantime perhaps we could yet hear back from the Bat Yam police and get some clues regarding Igor Vareby. In the end, the Jerusalem teen was found in Tel Aviv. Tuesday afternoon after hearing of Abir being found, we started off for Holon-Bat Yam to finally commence the search for Igor, only to be told that he, too, had already been found alive and well. Great news, we thought. We can now head home to Tapuach and get some well-needed rest. Early Wednesday morning, May 25th I learned that the police had made a grave mistake. The missing person they found was not Igor, but another missing person. Wednesday morning we set off to search for Igor. Where do we start?

Where do we start?
We arrived at Eli Cohen 2, searching for the name Varebi on the mail boxes. We put together a nice team to search for him. Ephraim L came with me from Tapuach with an impressive fleet of dogs. Aryeh, a righteous and well-seasoned dog handler who is currently serving in the IDF gets 4 days off every 21 days. He is currently stationed on the Gaza border, and joined us directly from the front. He begins his 4 day vacation by jumping into the thick of the search in Bat Yam. Not only that, he recruited Rachamim, one of his army buddies, who is also on leave and who lives nearby to join in the search. Edan, another young volunteer linked to Barel, a jeep brigade that helps look for missing people also joined us, as did Yair Maimon - the head of Barel, later in the day. And Gideon, Arye’s dad, the “pilot” of our drone who heads our branch in Sde Bar joined us with the drone, to help cover open areas nearby.

Gideon's son Shimon, flying the drone on a training exercise.


 Dov, a retired fellow who is well versed in the area at hand and who has a well-needed 4x4 jeep, also, later joined us.

Eden posing with "Jill"

Eli Cohen Street number 2 has three buildings and entrances. Each of the buildings stands 4-5 floors high with a total of 8-10 apartments in each building. None of them have a mail box that reads Varebi. The phone number we received from the Israeli information operator did not seem to reach anyone either. The police had yet to respond to my many inquiries. I saw the name Rebi on one mail box. We dashed up the stairs. Maybe Rebi was Varebi. Maybe the police made a mistake. Perhaps part of the name was cut off of the mail box. A woman answers the door. I ask, “Varebi?” I show the woman the picture. She says tensely, “I know nothing. If he lives anywhere it would be upstairs. Maybe I saw him on the stairwell once. Maybe I gave him his mail once.” It was obvious that she knew exactly who we were talking about. He had lived in the apartment one floor above her for the last 7 years. She was clearly not telling the truth. She assumed we were police and she, is no doubt, one of those people that does not want to get involved. Fair enough. We head up to the top apartments and found Igor’s mom Tamila. Tamila, an elderly woman spoke no Hebrew and just wept crying for Igor. I called Ephraim K, a Russian speaker currently designing a special application to help manage searches. He could help translate. Tamila put us in touch with Igor’s brother Slovic. Slovic was not of much help at this stage, however, he did tell us a bit about Igor’s profile, the trigger for the disappearance, as well as a good spot to start our search-  an open area with trees where he could be hiding or where he could have harmed himself, off the beaten track – nearby, not frequented by many people. This was the only area known to Slova where Igor would meditate and walk his dog that he once had. That was the first area we searched.

Back Again – 10 days after Igor disappeared – Still no clues
Here we are again searching for Igor. It is now Sunday May 29. It is 8 PM the guys are back at the command center in the gas station and we covered important ground today, but we have yet to recover the body. Tomorrow is another day. If we are not called out for something urgent, we may continue back here to cover more ground and hopefully to recover Igor’s body to bring him to a Jewish burial and to bring closure to his family. If we do not search for him, I fear that nobody else will. In a matter of days his body might be eaten by wild animals, G-d forbid.

The Keystone cops almost arrest one of our volunteers.
Ironically Ephraim L almost got arrested today searching in a huge abandoned building. No less than 5 policemen converged upon him. “What are you doing here? We have no report of a missing person.” Keystone cops indeed. Ephraim in his broken Hebrew urged the cops to call me. I cleared it all up. To think how many cops they have to engage in a false arrest. Yet no cops to look for this poor soul or to have started the search when he still could have been found alive. The police are the ones who are legally responsible to lead the searches for missing people, according to Israeli law. No search. Not even to have a photo of this current missing person in the patrol cars? Sad and shameful.


Join us - 
If you wish to get involved with the Israel Dog Unit as a volunteer or as a sponsor, feel free to email me at guzofskyyekutiel@gmail.com


At a police command center in a recent search near Tiberias
Some volunteers dorm in our facilities in Tapuach and spend part of their time working or studying. Some of our volunteers join us before, during and after their army service. Some volunteers come weekly for training or for search missions. We also run a defense program where we breed, train and provide dogs to help protect “settlements”. Never a dull moment with the Israel Dog Unit. A most meaningful tour of duty in the battle to rescue Jews in Israel. We always need good volunteers and we always need financial help to sponsor the dogs, the training, the volunteers, and the searches.
I can be reached in Israel 0544876709 

or on my U.S. phone number: 917475 0789

Donations can be sent to "Maginei Eretz L'Maan Hazulat" POBox 6592 Jerusalem Israel.