Israel's transfer of the bodies of two Hizbullah terrorists to representatives of the International Red Cross yesterday was not merely a "gesture," as was originally reported. It was learned last night that it was the price for Hizbullah's permission for a German mediator to visit Israeli hostage Elchanan Tannenbaum last week. Tannenbaum has been held by Hizbullah terrorists since October 2000.
The word from the German mediator is that Tannenbaum is alive and in "reasonably good health - but not better." This represents an improvement over the last news Israel had about him, approximately a year ago, which was that he was in bad health.
It is hoped that the bodies-for-information deal is only the first step of a larger deal that will lead not only to Tannenbaum's return home, but also to the return of the bodies of three IDF soldiers abducted almost three years ago, and word on four other missing-in-action soldiers. The cost to Israel: the return of two high-profile Lebanese terrorists who have been held for precisely this purpose, as well as 12 other Lebanese, and the return of bodies of Hizbullah terrorists.
The fate of at least eight Israelis hangs in the balance. Three of them - Yehuda Katz, Tzvi Feldman, and Zechariah Baumel - were captured during the Sultan Yaaqub battle in the Peace for Galilee war in June 1982. Four years later, navigator Ron Arad was felled over Lebanon in 1986. Most or all of them were apparently captured alive, and various reports have been received about them over the years, but they have not been heard from since their capture. For more information, see.
In addition, three IDF soldiers - Adi Avitan, Omar Souad and Benny Avraham - were kidnapped near the Israeli-Lebanese border on October 7, 2000. No word has been heard from them since, and the IDF considers them dead, though no Israeli has seen their bodies. The last of the Israelis in Lebanon, Elchanan Tannenbaum, suffers from asthma and other chronic health problems.
The two terrorists whose release Hizbullah has long sought are Sheikh Obeid and Mustafa Dirani, who were captured by Israeli forces in special missions deep inside Lebanese territory in 1989 and 1994, respectively. Both of them had a hand in the disappearance of Ron Arad, and Amal-terrorist leader Dirani actually sold him to Iranian-backed terrorist forces in Lebanon; Obeid was a major figure in the terrorist hierarchy.
The two appeared close to being released in April 2000 when the Supreme Court ordered the release of 12 other Lebanese "bargaining chips." Former GSS head Yaakov Peri even resigned his position as head of the committee dealing with missing and captive IDF soldiers, in protest of the Court's decision. In his letter of resignation to then-Prime Minister Barak, Peri wrote that the release of the detainees "stripped from the State one of its only remaining tools by which to achieve the release of the MIAs or to obtain information about them... Holding the Lebanese citizens in Israel was only in order to fulfill our obligations to the families of the missing soldiers."
In the end, the truth of this point regarding Obeid and Dirani was recognized, and they remained in prison. In August 2001, however, the Supreme Court ruled that Dirani and Obeid should receive visits from Red Cross officials - without making this contingent upon similar visits to Israel's MIAs. Security sources were quoted at the time as saying that the decision would hurt Israeli chances to obtain the same humanitarian visits for the Israeli hostages.
Hizbullah leader Sheikh Nasrallah, who appears to be suddenly anxious to reach a deal with Israel - some fear that it is because of the state of Tannenbaum's health - said recently, "My greatest wish is to die as a martyr by the hand of the Jews... I fear dying [peacefully] in bed or in a car accident."
The word from the German mediator is that Tannenbaum is alive and in "reasonably good health - but not better." This represents an improvement over the last news Israel had about him, approximately a year ago, which was that he was in bad health.
It is hoped that the bodies-for-information deal is only the first step of a larger deal that will lead not only to Tannenbaum's return home, but also to the return of the bodies of three IDF soldiers abducted almost three years ago, and word on four other missing-in-action soldiers. The cost to Israel: the return of two high-profile Lebanese terrorists who have been held for precisely this purpose, as well as 12 other Lebanese, and the return of bodies of Hizbullah terrorists.
The fate of at least eight Israelis hangs in the balance. Three of them - Yehuda Katz, Tzvi Feldman, and Zechariah Baumel - were captured during the Sultan Yaaqub battle in the Peace for Galilee war in June 1982. Four years later, navigator Ron Arad was felled over Lebanon in 1986. Most or all of them were apparently captured alive, and various reports have been received about them over the years, but they have not been heard from since their capture. For more information, see
In addition, three IDF soldiers - Adi Avitan, Omar Souad and Benny Avraham - were kidnapped near the Israeli-Lebanese border on October 7, 2000. No word has been heard from them since, and the IDF considers them dead, though no Israeli has seen their bodies. The last of the Israelis in Lebanon, Elchanan Tannenbaum, suffers from asthma and other chronic health problems.
The two terrorists whose release Hizbullah has long sought are Sheikh Obeid and Mustafa Dirani, who were captured by Israeli forces in special missions deep inside Lebanese territory in 1989 and 1994, respectively. Both of them had a hand in the disappearance of Ron Arad, and Amal-terrorist leader Dirani actually sold him to Iranian-backed terrorist forces in Lebanon; Obeid was a major figure in the terrorist hierarchy.
The two appeared close to being released in April 2000 when the Supreme Court ordered the release of 12 other Lebanese "bargaining chips." Former GSS head Yaakov Peri even resigned his position as head of the committee dealing with missing and captive IDF soldiers, in protest of the Court's decision. In his letter of resignation to then-Prime Minister Barak, Peri wrote that the release of the detainees "stripped from the State one of its only remaining tools by which to achieve the release of the MIAs or to obtain information about them... Holding the Lebanese citizens in Israel was only in order to fulfill our obligations to the families of the missing soldiers."
In the end, the truth of this point regarding Obeid and Dirani was recognized, and they remained in prison. In August 2001, however, the Supreme Court ruled that Dirani and Obeid should receive visits from Red Cross officials - without making this contingent upon similar visits to Israel's MIAs. Security sources were quoted at the time as saying that the decision would hurt Israeli chances to obtain the same humanitarian visits for the Israeli hostages.
Hizbullah leader Sheikh Nasrallah, who appears to be suddenly anxious to reach a deal with Israel - some fear that it is because of the state of Tannenbaum's health - said recently, "My greatest wish is to die as a martyr by the hand of the Jews... I fear dying [peacefully] in bed or in a car accident."