Israeli soldier fabricated kidnap story, was ‘looking for attention’: army

The IDF soldier who fabricated a missing person's report, which prompted a massive manhunt by security forces near Hebron on Thursday, was "looking for attention," the army's top spokesperson told Channel 2 on Friday.

Brig. Gen. Moti Almoz recounted the tense hours during which large contingents of soldiers and police concentrated forces in the southern West Bank in a frantic search for Niv Asraf, the Beersheba native who falsified a distress call.

"The army did not let up until we understood beyond any doubt that we could call off the massive search," Almoz said. "During those hours, we were focused on finding a kidnapped person alive."