Missing Israeli found in Jordan after two year search

An Israeli man, missing for two years, has been found in Jordan and was reunited with his family on Thursday with the help of a Beduin medical student from the Negev who is learning in Amman.

Shalom Rotban, 25 years old at the time of his disappearance and suffering from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), went missing on May 2, 2021. He was brought to a psychiatric hospital in Amman a few weeks ago after he was found wandering around the Jordanian capital.

After the hospital staff realized that Rotban understood Hebrew, they asked a Bedouin medical student from the Negev for his help.

Bedouin med student finds missing Israeli

Kamal Deeb al-Talkat told Maariv that “I had a test so I arrived at the hospital very early. Suddenly the department head asked me if I knew Hebrew, so I answered yes. They brought a man, he didn’t speak at all; they said he has no passport and no identification details.

“At first he didn’t answer me, so I wrote everything in a notebook and then he started writing too. I asked him to write down a phone number he remembered. I called and his mother answered me. I sent her pictures and she said it was her son, then I called via video. She cried a lot, on the one hand, it’s not an easy case but it’s also exciting. I reassured her that everything was fine. After half an hour, more Hebrew speakers came to help me.”

An official in Jordan then contacted the Israel Dog Unit (IDU), where he had apparently served, to confirm his identity, according to Maariv.

After receiving help from a wide range of people, including officials in the Foreign Ministry and the intervention of President Isaac Herzog, Rotban was brought to the border to be reunited with his family.

“We salute in these moments the angels from the IDU and the other organizations that assisted in the search,” said IDU commander Mike Ben Ya’akov. “And in particular, the negotiation team and special operations management team from the IDU in foreign countries who came together with his family and a representative of the Am Yisrael Chai Foundation to Jordan to lead the operation, and accompanied Shalom until he crossed the border into Israel.”

Rotban has suffered from PTSD since a 2012 rocket attack from Hamas on his hometown of Kiryat Malachi killed three of his friends.

His family said the 2021 conflict with Gaza apparently re-triggered his PTSD symptoms, after which he had not been seen or heard from.