Nearly two years have passed since soldier Hagai Gottlieb was taken captive. As the third year of his absence begins,his family clings to a hope that grows more fragile with each passing day.

Nearly two years have passed since soldier Hagai Gottlieb was taken captive. As the third year of his absence begins, his family clings to a hope that grows more fragile with each passing day. At the heart of the story are his parents, Micha and Dalia; their younger son, Amos; and Gideon, the determined leader of the civilian campaign for Hagai’s release. Under the unrelenting glare of the media and the paralysis of politics, the Gottliebs struggle to hold together what captivity has slowly undone - their hope, their unity, and the fragile ties that bind a family tested by absence. In luminous, restrained prose, Waiting for His Return traces the quiet heroism of endurance, blending domestic realism with a broader national perspective. Inspired by the real-life case of Gilad Shalit, Waiting for His Return gains new resonance in the wake of October 7, when countless families once again found themselves waiting for their loved ones to return from captivity. Efrat Israeli was born and raised in Jerusalem and has since made her home in both Tel Aviv and Dallas, Texas. She holds a law degree from Tel Aviv University and a master’s degree in sociology from the University of Texas at Dallas. She published two more novels in English: Her Promised Road (2014) - inspired by the early life of Golda Meir, and A Promise Called Home (2025) - a moving portrait of a woman torn between love, homeland, and the promise of the American Dream.