IDF Brig.-Gen. Chief Rabbi Yisrael Weiss has already begun meeting with the families of the three missing soldiers before announcing his decision regarding their fate. The army announced on Monday night that it was now operating on the assumption that the three were killing during or shortly after their abduction almost 13 months ago by Hizbullah. No bodies have been recovered, however, and the army is relying on \"evidence\" that it says it relayed to the Chief Rabbi.
After meeting with Rabbi Weiss, however, Chaim Avraham, father of one of the soldiers Binyamin Avraham, accused the army of not providing the rabbi with all the information. \"We told him things that he did not know,\" Mr. Avraham said. The father of Adi Avitan, Yaakov, was more explicit in his objections to the army\'s tendency to consider the boys dead: \"We heard that after the abduction, two soldiers were seen in the village walking on their own two legs. So how can they now say that they died without 100% proof? The information that has come in now is not proof, but only information which can be bought and falsified.\"
Osnat Fink Kensler, sister of Yosef Fink, who was considered missing in action until \'97 when his body was finally brought for burial, spoke with Arutz-7\'s Yigal Shok this morning, before the above information was learned. Shok first asked about her family\'s ordeal and how the army updated them on developments, and she answered,
\"The army kept us up to date throughout, including all the contradictory reports they received. In 1991, they finally received the information and proof that they had been waiting for, and only after they checked it and concluded that [the bodies] really were those of my brother Yosef and the other soldier, Rachamim Alsheikh - only then did the Chief Rabbi come and inform us that they were no longer living… We had no complaints against the army, but we did complain that the whole process took so long. We were hoping that it would go much faster… but we know that the people with whom we were dealing, Hizbullah, are simply inhuman [in their cruelty]. Unfortunately, the three soldiers of this incident fell into their hands as well.\"
Shok: \"Can you understand the families who say now that they will refuse to accept a ruling by the Chief Rabbi declaring the soldiers dead?\"
Osnat: \"I don\'t know what information the Chief Rabbi received, but this announcement of \"high probability [that the soldiers are dead]\" that the army made beforehand [on Monday night] is certainly not acceptable to the families. People don\'t die with \"high probability;\" they are either alive or dead, and until conclusively proved otherwise, it cannot be said that they are dead… It seems very strange that, just now, when it is known who is holding the soldiers, the army decides to come out with this new thing of \'casualties whose burial place is unknown.\' The families should not give up, and should continue to exert pressure, because that\'s the only way to get the boys home.\"
After meeting with Rabbi Weiss, however, Chaim Avraham, father of one of the soldiers Binyamin Avraham, accused the army of not providing the rabbi with all the information. \"We told him things that he did not know,\" Mr. Avraham said. The father of Adi Avitan, Yaakov, was more explicit in his objections to the army\'s tendency to consider the boys dead: \"We heard that after the abduction, two soldiers were seen in the village walking on their own two legs. So how can they now say that they died without 100% proof? The information that has come in now is not proof, but only information which can be bought and falsified.\"
Osnat Fink Kensler, sister of Yosef Fink, who was considered missing in action until \'97 when his body was finally brought for burial, spoke with Arutz-7\'s Yigal Shok this morning, before the above information was learned. Shok first asked about her family\'s ordeal and how the army updated them on developments, and she answered,
\"The army kept us up to date throughout, including all the contradictory reports they received. In 1991, they finally received the information and proof that they had been waiting for, and only after they checked it and concluded that [the bodies] really were those of my brother Yosef and the other soldier, Rachamim Alsheikh - only then did the Chief Rabbi come and inform us that they were no longer living… We had no complaints against the army, but we did complain that the whole process took so long. We were hoping that it would go much faster… but we know that the people with whom we were dealing, Hizbullah, are simply inhuman [in their cruelty]. Unfortunately, the three soldiers of this incident fell into their hands as well.\"
Shok: \"Can you understand the families who say now that they will refuse to accept a ruling by the Chief Rabbi declaring the soldiers dead?\"
Osnat: \"I don\'t know what information the Chief Rabbi received, but this announcement of \"high probability [that the soldiers are dead]\" that the army made beforehand [on Monday night] is certainly not acceptable to the families. People don\'t die with \"high probability;\" they are either alive or dead, and until conclusively proved otherwise, it cannot be said that they are dead… It seems very strange that, just now, when it is known who is holding the soldiers, the army decides to come out with this new thing of \'casualties whose burial place is unknown.\' The families should not give up, and should continue to exert pressure, because that\'s the only way to get the boys home.\"