New Push To Find Israeli Lost In India

American relatives of an Israeli backpacker missing for more than a month in India have joined the campaign to finance the ongoing search effort. Amichai Steinmetz, 24, set out on a one-day trek to explore the Parvati Valley in northern India on July 22 and has not been heard from since. Professional trackers, army friends of Steinmetz and volunteers recruited by Chabad-Lubavitch representatives in India, have surveyed the territory by foot and by air, finding no sign of him.

Steinmetz’ U.S. relatives last week started contacting friends and Jewish organizations to raise funds for the search, and placed an ad in this week’s issue of The Jewish Week. Information about Steinmetz is available at 4amichai.org.

Steinmetz, who served in the Israeli Army in

the elite Duvdevan undercover anti-terrorism unit, was to return to Israel before Rosh HaShanah and begin studying archaeology at Hebrew University.

India for years has served as a popular vacation site for discharged Israeli soldiers. Two Israelis have died hiking there in the past few years.

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