"The IDF will do everything it can to return home all its missing and captive soldiers." So said IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon last night, emphasizing, "I see this as an educational value and my personal mission."
Arutz-7's Kobi Finkler reports that Yaalon, speaking at a testimonial dinner to wounded soldiers of the Engineering Corps last night, named the five soldiers to whom he was referring: Zechariah Baumel, Tzvi Feldman, Yehuda Katz, Ron Arad, and Guy Hever.
Baumel, Feldman and Katz have been missing since the bitter Battle of Sultan Yaaqub in the June 1982 Peace for Galilee War in Lebanon. Twenty soldiers were killed in the battle, largely because of faulty intelligence. Ron Arad has been missing since his capture in October 1986, after his Phantom jet was shot down over Lebanon; the pilot was flown to safety under fire, but Arad parachuted down and was immediately captured by members of the Amal militia. He was held in Beirut by an extreme Shiite organization, and was later sold to Iranian-backed forces. Guy Hever, the fifth Israeli MIA, has been missing since he was last seen in the Golan, near the Syrian border, in August 1997.
Yaalon's statements last night have been the only official IDF response since reports were circulated on Sunday night that the army is about to declare Baumel, Feldman and Katz "fallen soldiers whose burial place is unknown." This decision was made after years of false leads and, more recently, several weeks of a reenactment of the battle. The simulation involved a real tank, of the same type that took part in the battle, and a computer simulation of a rocket hit in the tank turret. Prof. Yehuda Hiss, the controversial Chief State Pathologist, concluded that based on all the data gathered to date, it is not reasonable to assume that the three remained alive. The Chief Rabbinate, however, is not expected to make its final decision based only on these findings.
The families, on the other hand, are far from willing to give up. Yonah Baumel, father of Zechariah, has long said that he has indications that his son is alive and being held in Syria. A childhood friend of Zechariah, pediatrician Dr. Stuart Ditchek of New York, told Yediot Acharonot yesterday, "We received information from a non-official but reliable source in Syria, confirming that Zechariah was alive six months ago." Ditchek, whose connection with Syria began via his patients in the Syrian-Jewish community in New York, has served as the Baumel family's liaison with Syria over the past several years. He and Yonah Baumel even received visas to visit Syria last year, but these were rescinded after the Maxim Restaurant massacre in Haifa and Israel's military response. "However," Ditchek said, "We lately received information from a senior Syrian indicating that they wish to end this matter. [Syrian dictator] Bashar Assad is showing much good will. We are very close to receiving further information."
Tzvika Feldman's parents also say that the army has not yet exhausted all avenues in the search for their son.
Arutz-7's Kobi Finkler reports that Yaalon, speaking at a testimonial dinner to wounded soldiers of the Engineering Corps last night, named the five soldiers to whom he was referring: Zechariah Baumel, Tzvi Feldman, Yehuda Katz, Ron Arad, and Guy Hever.
Baumel, Feldman and Katz have been missing since the bitter Battle of Sultan Yaaqub in the June 1982 Peace for Galilee War in Lebanon. Twenty soldiers were killed in the battle, largely because of faulty intelligence. Ron Arad has been missing since his capture in October 1986, after his Phantom jet was shot down over Lebanon; the pilot was flown to safety under fire, but Arad parachuted down and was immediately captured by members of the Amal militia. He was held in Beirut by an extreme Shiite organization, and was later sold to Iranian-backed forces. Guy Hever, the fifth Israeli MIA, has been missing since he was last seen in the Golan, near the Syrian border, in August 1997.
Yaalon's statements last night have been the only official IDF response since reports were circulated on Sunday night that the army is about to declare Baumel, Feldman and Katz "fallen soldiers whose burial place is unknown." This decision was made after years of false leads and, more recently, several weeks of a reenactment of the battle. The simulation involved a real tank, of the same type that took part in the battle, and a computer simulation of a rocket hit in the tank turret. Prof. Yehuda Hiss, the controversial Chief State Pathologist, concluded that based on all the data gathered to date, it is not reasonable to assume that the three remained alive. The Chief Rabbinate, however, is not expected to make its final decision based only on these findings.
The families, on the other hand, are far from willing to give up. Yonah Baumel, father of Zechariah, has long said that he has indications that his son is alive and being held in Syria. A childhood friend of Zechariah, pediatrician Dr. Stuart Ditchek of New York, told Yediot Acharonot yesterday, "We received information from a non-official but reliable source in Syria, confirming that Zechariah was alive six months ago." Ditchek, whose connection with Syria began via his patients in the Syrian-Jewish community in New York, has served as the Baumel family's liaison with Syria over the past several years. He and Yonah Baumel even received visas to visit Syria last year, but these were rescinded after the Maxim Restaurant massacre in Haifa and Israel's military response. "However," Ditchek said, "We lately received information from a senior Syrian indicating that they wish to end this matter. [Syrian dictator] Bashar Assad is showing much good will. We are very close to receiving further information."
Tzvika Feldman's parents also say that the army has not yet exhausted all avenues in the search for their son.