Family members addressed the crowd and demanded that the government take more resolute steps to obtain freedom for the missing Israel Air Force navigator.
Three Iranian exiles reportedly recently testified that they saw Arad alive and wheelchair-bound in a secret Iranian prison cell as recently as three years ago. They further said that doctors in Syria had cruelly paralyzed him several years earlier, in order to ensure that he could not repeat his one-time attempt to escape.
Last night's event was held in the shadow of reports that Mustafa Dirani is one of hundreds of terrorists who will soon be released in exchange for one Israeli captive - Elchanan Tenenbaum - and the bodies of three IDF soldiers. Ron Arad is not included in the deal. Arad's 16-year-old niece said that it is hard for her to contemplate living in a country that abandons those it sends to fight its wars. "Mustafa Dirani," she said, referring to the Lebanese terrorist who sold Ron Arad to the Iranians and who is now being held in Israel, "has blood on his hands. He tied his fate to that of Ron Arad, and must not be released before Ron Arad is freed." Yosef Harari, Chairman of the Ron Arad Association, said that Israel should abduct Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Musicians such as Boaz Sharabi, Shlomo Artzi, and David Daor performed in Arad's honor.
Last month, the special Winograd Committee established to examine Ron Arad's case reported that the likelihood that Ron Arad is still alive is greater than any other possibility. The committee found that there is no evidence proving that he is not alive. Letters of support to the Arad Family can be sent to "arad@mia.org.il"
Three Iranian exiles reportedly recently testified that they saw Arad alive and wheelchair-bound in a secret Iranian prison cell as recently as three years ago. They further said that doctors in Syria had cruelly paralyzed him several years earlier, in order to ensure that he could not repeat his one-time attempt to escape.
Last night's event was held in the shadow of reports that Mustafa Dirani is one of hundreds of terrorists who will soon be released in exchange for one Israeli captive - Elchanan Tenenbaum - and the bodies of three IDF soldiers. Ron Arad is not included in the deal. Arad's 16-year-old niece said that it is hard for her to contemplate living in a country that abandons those it sends to fight its wars. "Mustafa Dirani," she said, referring to the Lebanese terrorist who sold Ron Arad to the Iranians and who is now being held in Israel, "has blood on his hands. He tied his fate to that of Ron Arad, and must not be released before Ron Arad is freed." Yosef Harari, Chairman of the Ron Arad Association, said that Israel should abduct Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Musicians such as Boaz Sharabi, Shlomo Artzi, and David Daor performed in Arad's honor.
Last month, the special Winograd Committee established to examine Ron Arad's case reported that the likelihood that Ron Arad is still alive is greater than any other possibility. The committee found that there is no evidence proving that he is not alive. Letters of support to the Arad Family can be sent to "arad@mia.org.il"