I10: Israeli M.I.A.s

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The Current Situation

On July 21, 1996, a prisoners-bodies deal was finally reached between Israel and Hizbullah in which more than a hundred gunmen were swapped for the remains of two Israeli soldiers. The Red Cross brought the coffins of the dead gunmen from the Lebanon-Israel border. In exchange, Israel received the bodies of Yosef Fink and Rachamim Alsheich, held by Hizbullah for over a decade.

Few societies place as much stress as Israel on the return of the remains of their missing soldiers. Israel's enemies are only to well aware of the sensitivity of this issue, and use this stirring expression of human decency to play with the hearts and nerves of the country's citizens and leaders.

The deal between Israel and Hizbullah was mediated by the German intelligence advisor, Bernd Schmidbauer, whose country has good trade relations with Iran. He believes that Iran will accept humanitarian agreements in return for Western support, and is hopeful that negotiations will lead to a return of all missing Israeli soldiers.

In June 1996, the Israeli Government officially committed itself to include the MIA issue as part of its ongoing peace, security and foreign relations: "The government will use all means at its disposal to bring home prisoners of war that are missing in action and all those who worked for the security of the state, and will insist on this during negotiations with all relevant parties."

At the beginning of August 1996, Israeli security sources announced on the radio that Yehuda Katz, Tzvi Feldman and Zacharia Baumel were believed to be buried in Syria. The Israeli Government is still checking this report's accuracy. On the radio, a Palestinian contact was quoted as saying that the information came from three former gunmen, now living in Jordan, who claimed that they had buried the three soldiers under Palestinian names without notifying the Syrians. Family members of the missing soldiers say that they have been given conflicting opinions from Israeli authorities and believe that the MIAs could still be alive.

In October 1996, ten years after his capture, the German weekly "Focus" reported that Ron Arad is alive. The magazine claims as its source a document sent by the Mossad to a Western-country intelligence agency. According to the document, Arad was held in the Lebanese village of Nabi Shet until April 1996 and was then taken to an unknown location.

In the past, Israeli soldiers captured by the Syrians have been held for over fifteen years before being safely released. This implies that there is still real hope that all of Israel's MIA's will be returned to their families. The story continues...

What can we do?

Letters can be written to local MP's politicians, ambassadors and other leaders asking that this issue is put on the political agenda. The affect of letter writing should not be under estimated. In today's political environment there is constant negotiation and compromise between Governments, terrorist organisations and other groups. Increasing political awareness could very well be an important factor in resolving the situation.

Another idea is to raise public awareness in general to the plight of the Israeli MIA's by organising events on their behalf. The Government is very conscious of public opinion on major issues and will take notice of what is in the public eye. Educate your fellow Jews about these issues and read the newspapers to keep yourself better informed. Write letters of support to the families of the missing soldiers and tell them what you are doing.

What the Israelis think

Here are two interesting results of a poll commissioned by IMRA - the Independent Media Research and Analysis unit.

- 77% of Israelis say that no peace deal should be made with Syria until the problem of the MIAs is solved.

- 69% of Israelis think that, even if it damages the peace process, there should be no prisoner releases until Arafat gives more information on MIAs

Contact Organisations

The UK Campaign for Missing Israeli Soldiers
143/5 Brondesbury Park, London NW2 5JL
Tel: 0181 451 0003 Fax: 0181 459 8766
email: betar.tagar@ort.org

The International Coalition for Missing Israeli Soldiers
(ICMIS) 6 Bezalel St. POB 32380 Jerusalem
Tel/Fax 00 972 2 523 6083

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