Israelis Missing in Action (1998)

RCA Urges US Government to Use Every Appropriate Channel to Secure the Release of Israeli MIA’s

Jun 1, 1998 — Resolution on Israeli MIAs

WHEREAS Israeli Air Force navigator Ron Arad has been missing-in-action since 1986 and is believed to be held in Lebanon; and

WHEREAS Israeli soldiers Zachary Baumel, Yehudah Katz, and Zvi Feldman have been missing-in-action since 1982 when they were captured at the battle of Sultan Yaqub in Lebanon; and
WHEREAS, the remains of Yosef Fink and Rachmim Alcheck have not been returned to Israel for proper Jewish burial; and

WHEREAS, the Israeli government, the families of these soldiers and the international Jewish community has been seeking information about their fates and working toward their freedom or the return of their remains; and

WHEREAS, pidyon sh’vuyim is a fundamental religious obligation,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Rabbinical Council of America urge the United States government to use every appropriate channel to secure the release of the MIAs and the return of the bodies of the deceased; urge the United Nations and the International Committee for the Red Cross to give their fullest support to this humanitarian effort; and urge rabbis and synagogues to increase awareness of the Israeli MIAs, and organize and encourage political action in the forms of phone calls and letter writing to the appropriate officials.