”VFW Organizations iiaiom By Judy Saxe This June marked the anniversary of the 11th capture in 1982 of Israeli soldiers Zecharia Baumel, Zvi Feldman and Yehuda Katz during a tank battle in the Syrian Controlled Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. No solid information has been forthcoming on the three about what happened to them or their whereabouts. A fourth soldier, Air Force Captain Ron Arad, has been missing for seven years, since October 1986, after safely bailing out of his stricken plane over Lebanon. Captain Arad, the navigator of the plane, was captured by members of the Lebanese Shiite organization, Amal. The Conference of Presidents of Major American has formed a National Committee for Israeli MIA'S, chaired by Iladassah National President Deborah Kaplan to coordinate a national campaign aimed at increasing public awareness of this tragic issue, obtaining information regarding the fate of the MIA'S, and to secure their safe return to their families. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON MIA‘S. From Hadaasah News Service Release Captain Ron Arad Captain Ron Arad, a )ewisla Feberation August 1993 CK$JF Bulletin of the Central Kentuekq ISRAELI MIA'S MARK 11 YEARS IN CAPTIVITY navigator with the Israeli Air Force, was captured on October 16, 1986 after parachuting out of his Phantom jet. He landed in the area of Sayda in southern Lebanon and was captured by members of the Islamic fundamentalist Amal militia. Captain Arad was brought to Beirut and was personally held by the then head of security of Amal, Mystify Dirani. The leader of this militia, Nabi Berri, announced that he was holding Arad and proposed an exchange for Shiite and Lebanese detainees. In early 1988, Dirani severed his ties with Amal for ideological differences and took Arad with him. He formed a new group that same year and called it "The Resistance of the Believers." Arad was held captive under Dirani's group until the beginning of 1989. After negotiations between "The Resistance of the Believers" and the Iranians, Arad was handed over to the Iranian "Revolutionary Guards“ in exchange for a large sum of money. Sources in Israel believe that Captain Arad is still being held by this group CKJF 340 Romany Road Lexington, KY 40502 Nae-Putt 0:; US. POSTAGE P A I D Permit No. 719 Lexington, KY I'Ion Arad DATE OF BIRTH: MAY 5. 1956 COUNTRY OF BIRTH' ISRAEL Zachary Shlomo Bauml DATE OF BIRTH: NOVEMBER I7. 1960 L COUNTRY OF BIRTH: U.S.A. Zvi Feldman DATE OF m: DECEWER as. 1956 COUNTRY OF BIRTH: ISRAEL Yehuda Yukllflel Kat! DATE OF BIRTH: JULY I8. I959 COUNTRY OF BIRTH: ISRAEL and according to an April 8, 1993 edition of the Jerusalem Report, he is now held captive somewhere in Iran. Ron Arad was born in Israel on May 5, 1958, the son of Batya and the late Dov Arad. Ron and his wife Tami have a daughter Yuval, who is seven years old. Before his capture Ron was a student at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology where he was in pursuit of a BS. degree in chemical engineering. At the time of his capture, he had successfully completed his first year of studies. Ser eant a aria Baumel, Staff sergeant Zvi Feldman, and Sergeant Yehuda Eats On the morning of June 11, 1982, in the Sultan Ya‘akub area of Lebanon, a battle occurred between a Syrian Army unit and a tank force of the I.D.F. Upon completion of this battle, six Israeli soldiers were missing. Three of the six were ultimately found. However, Zacharia Baumel, Zvi Feldman and Yehuda Katz are still missing. Ya'akub att e. Sources in Israel claim that terrorists, who were in the Sultan Ya'akub area, including the Fatah and Syrian affiliated Sai’qa, organized a parade in the village of Ayta Al-Fawkhar on the very day these three Israeli soldiers were reported missing. There were reports that Israeli soldiers, or possibly bodies of Israeli soldiers, were displayed during the parade. The Sai'qa organization that same afternoon held a procession in Damascus, which featured an Israeli tank that was ere’ we additional reports that Israeli P.O.W.'s were being displayed in this parade and yet others suggesting that there were three corpses on the tank. On July 4, 1982 the Syrians held a funeral in the Jewish cemetery in Damascus for four I.D.F. soldiers. The cofi‘ms were provided by the Sai'qa organization,a nd attached with them were Hebrew documents that were left behind in Israeli tanks from the battle in Sultan Ya'akub. Under the auspices of a prisoner exchan e in 1984, these four co ins and documents were transferred to Israel. It was discovered that only one of these coffins contained an Israeli body (Captain Zohar Lifschitz). The Israeli documents attached to them actually belong to Israeli soldiers who are not missing at all and are alive and well in Israel. In December of 1991 a team of Red Cross pathologists re- examined the bodies and confirmed the fact that three of the bodies sent by Syria were not Israeli.