July 18, 2000
Orthodox
Union to Camp David Summit Participants:
What
about the Israeli MIA's?
Eighteen
years ago, in June of 1982, Zachary Baumel, Yehudah Katz, and
Tzvi Feldman were captured during a battle with Palestinian and
Syrian forces near the Lebanese town of Sultan Yaqub.
Baumel, an American citizen, and Katz and Feldman, the
children of Holocaust survivors, remain unaccounted for despite
evidence that they were captured alive.
In 1986,
Israeli Air-Force navigator Ron Arad was captured as he
parachuted from his stricken aircraft.
He is also unaccounted for after having been captured by
Amal militia and transferred to different organizations.
Since
1982, Yassir Arafat and other Palestinian officials have made
many references to information in their possession regarding the
missing men, but were unwilling to disclose that information to
Israeli or American officials.
On May 26, 1994 Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, of blessed
memory, said "Arafat had promised...more information about
the MIA's, but has not been forthcoming fearing it would
complicate his relations with Assad."
This was said in view of a promise that Arafat had made
that more information would be forthcoming.
Syria,
which bears responsibility under the Geneva Convention for the
well being of the soldiers, has also made statements regarding
information on the MIA's. For fifteen years the late Syrian
President Hafaz El Assad claimed that he had no knowledge of the
missing soldiers and later admitted that he did have some but
that the time was not yet right to divulge it.
With
the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the families of the
MIA's had hoped that their ordeal was finally coming to an end.
At that time Yassir Arafat returned half of Baumel's
military ID tag to Prime Minister Rabin, promising that within
two weeks he would disclose critical information regarding the
MIA's of Sultan Yaqub.
Since
that promise was made Israel has released thousands of
Palestinian prisoners. Yet
no substantive information has been coming forth from the PA,
despite Arafat's signed commitment in the 1994 Cairo Accords to
disclose all information in his possession regarding the missing
Israelis.
As
Israeli and Palestinian leaders are now in the throes of another
summit, we again hear the Palestinian demand to release yet more
imprisoned terrorists but do not hear anything about a request
for or the promise of the release of the Israeli MIA's.
Since the passing of Hafez El Assad, Arafat no longer has
to fear that it would complicate Palestinian relations with
Syria if he would fulfill his promise to Prime Minister Rabin
regarding the fate of the Israeli MIA's.
The
resolution of this matter should be of particular interest to
the American government. Zachary
Baumel is an American citizen and Israel, as America's only
reliable Middle East ally, played a critical role in securing
the release of Terry Anderson and the other American hostages
who were being held by terrorists in Lebanon in 1990.
The
Orthodox Union, the largest mainstream Orthodox Jewish
organization in the United States, calls on Prime
Minister Barak and the Israeli negotiating team attending
the Camp David summit to put the issue of the Israeli
MIA's on the table and insist on its resolution.
The American facilitators should also see to it that this
issue is raised in keeping with the Lantos-Gilman legislation
that mandates it.
As
we know all too well, the bitter legacy of missing soldiers can
haunt a nation and interfere with efforts to build better
relations between former enemies.
Clearly, resolving the issue of the Israeli MIA's can
only strengthen efforts to make true Middle East peace a
reality.
-30-
MIA's
Information Center
OU
IPA Interactive Center
Union of Orthodox
Jewish Congregations of America
Institute for Public Affairs
Main Office:
11 Broadway
New York, NY 10004
Phone: 212-613-8124 Fax: 212-564-9058
E-mail: ipa@ou.org |
Washington Office:
1640 Rhode Island Ave NW
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-857-2770 Fax: 202-331-916
E-mail: ipadc@ou.org |
Prof.
Richard Stone, Chairman
Nathan Diament, Director
Betty Ehrenberg, Director, International
Affairs & Communal Relations
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