IDF Chief Rabbi Brig.-Gen. Yisrael Weiss decided officially that the three soldiers who were kidnapped over a year ago by Hizbullah are in fact dead - \"IDF casualties whose burial place is unknown.\" The three are St.-Sgt. Adi Avitan, St.-Sgt. Benny Avraham, and St.-Sgt. Omar Souad. Rabbi Weiss informed the families of his decision this morning in person, and is making separate visits to each one.
At the Avitan home in Tiberias, the Adi\'s father Yaakov sadly explained why the family has decided to accept the decision: \"Yesterday, we met with the Prime Minister, the Chief of Staff, and other army officers, and we said some harsh things. We said that there was no certainty, and that no one had seen the bodies… But we found there a group of people who were under many pressures from many sides, yet who did not bend at all…\" He added that the families will still need the help of the public and the army to make every effort to bring the boys home for proper burial, which Rabbi Weiss promised to do. Chaim Avraham, father of Benny, similarly said that his family accepts the rabbi\'s decision, but \"the campaign is not over, for the boys must be buried at home... As a Jew and as a person who lives in a democratic country, we must accept the decision, and we will begin now to keep the mourning practices of Am [People of] Yisrael.\"
The family of Omar Souad, which lives in the Bedouin village of Salameh in the western Galilee, said that they accept the decision, but would not open a \"mourners\' tent\" for \"religious and personal\" reasons.
Former IDF Personnel Corps Commander Maj.-Gen. Gideon Shefer acknowledged today that this past week was particularly hard for the families. The week began with a press conference in which it was announced that the soldiers were \"probably\" dead - an announcement that the families did not accept - and ended with the Chief Rabbi\'s official halakhic [Jewish legal] decision. Shefer said, however, that under the circumstances, there was no other way. He explained that on the one hand, rumors were widespread at the beginning of the week that the bodies had been recovered, and the army felt it had to act to dispel them at once - and thus it held the Monday night press conference. On the other hand, Shefer continued,
\"I very much appreciate the fact that Rabbi Weiss, who had a very difficult decision to make, did not just accept everything at face value, but checked for himself, and consulted with other rabbis, as did Chief Rabbi Navon in similar cases before, and in the end, the families were able accept his decision.\"
At the Avitan home in Tiberias, the Adi\'s father Yaakov sadly explained why the family has decided to accept the decision: \"Yesterday, we met with the Prime Minister, the Chief of Staff, and other army officers, and we said some harsh things. We said that there was no certainty, and that no one had seen the bodies… But we found there a group of people who were under many pressures from many sides, yet who did not bend at all…\" He added that the families will still need the help of the public and the army to make every effort to bring the boys home for proper burial, which Rabbi Weiss promised to do. Chaim Avraham, father of Benny, similarly said that his family accepts the rabbi\'s decision, but \"the campaign is not over, for the boys must be buried at home... As a Jew and as a person who lives in a democratic country, we must accept the decision, and we will begin now to keep the mourning practices of Am [People of] Yisrael.\"
The family of Omar Souad, which lives in the Bedouin village of Salameh in the western Galilee, said that they accept the decision, but would not open a \"mourners\' tent\" for \"religious and personal\" reasons.
Former IDF Personnel Corps Commander Maj.-Gen. Gideon Shefer acknowledged today that this past week was particularly hard for the families. The week began with a press conference in which it was announced that the soldiers were \"probably\" dead - an announcement that the families did not accept - and ended with the Chief Rabbi\'s official halakhic [Jewish legal] decision. Shefer said, however, that under the circumstances, there was no other way. He explained that on the one hand, rumors were widespread at the beginning of the week that the bodies had been recovered, and the army felt it had to act to dispel them at once - and thus it held the Monday night press conference. On the other hand, Shefer continued,
\"I very much appreciate the fact that Rabbi Weiss, who had a very difficult decision to make, did not just accept everything at face value, but checked for himself, and consulted with other rabbis, as did Chief Rabbi Navon in similar cases before, and in the end, the families were able accept his decision.\"