The Campaign for Israel's MIAs
Dateline July 2008
Table of Contents
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1. Overview
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The Right to Know - The Need to Know
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Negotiations and Hopes
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Points to Ponder
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Campaigns to Free the MIAs
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More Links
Overview
While eight Israelis - all serving soldiers at the time of their capture - have been held in captivity for years by terrorist groups of Lebanese origin with Syrian and Iranian support, eight families are continually traumatised by not knowing if their sons or husbands are still alive, and not being allowed to have any contact with them. Israel has been trying to establish the whereabouts of all of these men, captured by organizations which do not represent any national government and do not answer to them, or to International Law.
This unit offers individuals and groups the chance to make a contribution by becoming involved - not simply campaigning, but by being pro-active and making a real difference in the outcomes.
Firstly, by joining together to show closeness and support, we can all help the families cope with the cruelty of this psychological warfare, and show that truly all Israel are brothers - kol Yisrael areivim zeh bazeh.
Secondly, the Mitzvah (precept) of Pidyon Shevuyim - Redeeming Prisoners - commands us to do everything we can to secure the safety and release of all these men.
There is no doubt that public, grass-roots action can influence the outcome of diplomatic efforts: moving an issue which concerns our communities to a top billing on humanitarian and international agendas can make a difference in terms of urgency, efforts and pressures exerted to resolve the issue of information about Israel's 7 missing soldiers and one civilian who disappeared in Lebanon.
This updated unit addresses the issues involved, the recent kidnappings, ideas for individual and group action, new links to information - and also links to the educational resources supplied in the previous series about Israel's MIAs: Click Here
1982 - 26 Years
In 1982, Israel sent the IDF into Lebanon to combat the Fatahland which threatened from beyond her borders. Five soldiers were captured at the Battle of Sultan Yakoub with Syrian and Palestinian forces in Lebanon, 1982. Three remain in captivity but there has been no direct contact with them for 18 years; their names are Tzvi Feldman, Zachary Baumel and Yehuda Katz. Various reports have emerged of "sightings" and information, although since 1995 these have been rather at second-hand.
In 1993, Yassir Arafat returned half of Baumel's IDF dog tag, which clearly demonstrates that channels exist to whichever terrorist organization is now holding these three prisoners, and equally to whoever is holding all the others.
1986 - 22 Years
It is now 22 years since the capture of Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad, who bailed out from his aircraft and fell into the hands of the Amal terrorist organization. He has been seen and photographed (1987) but has been held incommunicado, most probably by Iranian forces, since 1988. Hizbullah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, once said he believes Arad "may still be alive". Scant information has been provided since then, with the most recently released film and photographic evidence estimated to date, at the latest, from around the same period - 20 years ago.
Arad is married, with a daughter who was a baby when her father was captured and does not remember him.
There are 4 Israeli soldiers still officially listed as Missing in Action from action in Lebanon:
Tzvi Feldman, Zachary Baumel and Yehuda Katz [1982]; Ron Arad [1986]. (Biographies)
Guy Hever
is presumed to have been kidnapped into Syria from the southern Golan by infiltrators from Syria [1997].
2000: Abduction in October
On 7th October 2000, three Israeli soldiers were led into a planned Hizbullah ambush on a routine patrol on the Israeli side of the Lebanese border. Hizbullah illegally crossed the border to set this trap - some unknown event enticed the soldiers to detour into the Dov mountain range (still on Israeli territory), where they were probably all seriously wounded, captured by a large group of concealed Hizbullah terrorists and abducted into Lebanon. This is all the information that was available from searches of the area, although they were known to have been seriously wounded.
The three soldiers were:
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Staff Sgt. Omer Suaed (Sawayid), aged 27, of Wadi Salameh. Married, with 2 children |
Staff Sgt. Binyamin Avraham, aged 20, of Bnei Brak |
Sgt Adi Avitan, 21,
from Tiberias |
The Right to Know - The Need to Know
From October 2007, there was no word as to whether the abducted men were alive and, if so, in what condition they were, or how they were being treated. This proved a terrible strain on the families and violates every understanding of humanitarian treatment of prisoners, and the laws which are designed to protect the welfare of prisoners of war.
The Israeli government viewed the prime responsibility for the abducted men's safety as that of the Hizbullah. It also stated that it held the Lebanese government responsible for actions undertaken by organizations operating on its territory; it held the Syrian government responsible, as a sponsor of Hizbullah and terrorism in Lebanon.
All these rights to know are protected in the 1949 Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War - see http://www.mia.org.il/laws.html which is implemented largely through the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The Red Cross representatives were unable to obtain any information - and so the four families waited to hear whether their sons and husband were alive or not. Rene Cosnik, an ICRC representative, met with the families of the kidnapped Israelis on 11th December 2000 and accepted religious items for them. He regretted that he had been unable to see the prisoners or receive any information about them, but assured the relatives that the Red Cross would make every effort to meet the soldiers and provide information on their status.
For over a year, Hizbullah leader Nasrullah refused to provide any information about the kidnap victims, except for one declaration that they had not been harmed. His response to Israel's decision to declare them "Killed in Action" (KIA) was to call it a ploy to extract admissions from him - he assured viewers that none would be forthcoming. Israel viewed this as a further sadistic attack on the morale of the families of these three soldiers and the community of MIA families as a whole.
It later became evident that the kidnap incident had been filmed by UNIFIL, the UN's International Forces in Lebanon - although the full video was not made available to Israeli representatives. It was pretty clear that the action was carried out in full view, unimpeded, by the UN's supervisory forces, in violation of their mandate. There were also reports that the abduction involved the use of UN vehicles, or at least their complicity in allowing the terrorist group to pass unimpeded: this was assumed to be the reason for withholding the unedited tape.
Since Israel had truly no idea which of the MIAs were definitely alive, she entered negotiations blindfold. Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh and Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz were cautious about the possibility of a breakthrough in negotiations to free the men abducted in October. Their policy was to maximize the intervention of international mediators - whether diplomats or humanitarian activists - and minimize public demonstration. In exchange for the three MIAs and Elhanan Tannenbaum, Israel was holding top Hizbullah operative Sheikh Abdel Karim Obeid and Amal's Mustafa Dirani in administrative detention (without trial). The Israel Supreme Court rejected an application for their release and, in his ruling, Judge Cheshin specifically stated that it would be inappropriate to free them in the hope that Hizbullah would free Israeli soldiers. Israel also holds many security prisoners who actively engaged in terrorist operations.
A statement by Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah demanded that - simply in return for information about the latest prisoners - Israel supply prior information on what he termed numerous "humanitarian" counts (information about known detainees in Israel; information about remains; also about minefields in Lebanon), and specifically excluded any negotiation over Ron Arad. These were all clear indications that straightforward cooperation will not be forthcoming in this area. In view of all these facts, Israel needed far more than its own negotiating power to bring about a release of its MIAs.
In the interim, the three Israeli familes accepted the rabbinical ruling on the loss of their sons with a heavy heart, and a certain apprehension that it would lower the profile of the endeavors on their behalf, but a weight has been lifted from their hearts with the closure. They were assured by the IDF and the government that no effort would be spared to negotiate for a return of the bodies for burial in Israel. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres appealed to Farouk A-Shara, his Syrian counterpart, to do all he can to expedite the return of the bodies.
It took 3 whole years: the bodies of Israel's three missing soldiers: Omer Suaed, Benny Avraham and Adi Avitan were returned following the release by Israel of Sheikh Obeid and Mustafa Dirani. The only survivor returned to Israel alive was Elhanan Tannenbaum. The heavy price paid by Israel included the release of Palestinian prisoners to the Gaza strip and the return of the bodies of terrorists to Lebanon.
Abduction 2006
In June and July 2006, three soldiers were kidnapped in violation of sovereign Israeli territory by terrorists from outside Israel:
Corporal Gilad Shalit, captured by Syrian-controlled Hamas into the Gaza Strip [June 2006] - Shalit, of Mitzpeh Hila, aged 19, was wounded and abducted by Hamas from inside Israel's border with the Gaza Strip early on 25th June 2006.
Ehud [Udi] Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, captured by Iranian-controlled and Syrian-supported Hizbullah into Lebanon who attacked an IDF patrol at Sh'tula, near Zarit, inside Israel's northern border, on 12th July 2006. Hizbullah leader Nasrallah stated the two men had been captured alive.
More information
International Solidarity Campaign: Karnit Goldwasser in Video Conference, Oct 30th 2007
Habanim Campaign website
The abduction of Udi Goldwasser and Eldad Regev was the outcome of intensive Hizbullah build-up and firepower in southern Lebanon and, more immediately, of an attack that killed 4 members of their tank patrol. The kidnap was followed by heavy Hizbullah missile attacks across northern Israel, and resulted in a decisive military action by Israel into Hizbullah-land north of the border: the Second Lebanon War.
Negotiations and Hopes
The history of Israelis Missing in Action, both civilians and POWs, dates back to 1948. In almost every case of ambush and injury during IDF operations, Israeli soldiers and support forces have spared no effort to bring back both the injured men and the fatalities, with helicopters returning time after time to rescue or search for anyone left behind. The significance of this principle is not lost on the lawless terrorist groups operating from Lebanon and Gaza: indeed, it provides motivation for numerous kidnap attempts.
Tragically, and unforgivably, since terrorist organizations first captured or kidnapped Israeli soldiers (and civilians) in Lebanon in the 1980s, there has been no effective action at international level to compel them to provide information about them, or hand them over to a legal entity. Since 1983, Israel has a record of willingness to exchange huge numbers of prisoners and terrorists' remains in return for the remains of its own soldiers. At times, this price has been so prohibitive as to raise questions about the precedent that it has created for the future. There have been happy occasions when Israel's POWs have been returned alive: there is always the tenuous hope that Israeli MIAs may be alive and negotiations have to be handled so as not to prejudice the outcome...
The terms of UN Security Council Resolution #1701e, which concluded the Second Lebanon War in August 2006, included the release of the soldiers.
Despite the personal and public campaigns of the families of the kidnapped soldiers, there was little progress; no information about their condition was forthcoming. In late 2007, and mainly in the late Spring of 2008, reports from Lebanon and international media indicated that an exchange deal might be firming up.
Israel went through with the controversial exchange and, on the morning of 16th July 2008, the Hizbullah transferred two coffins to the Red Cross - which would not acknowledge whether they had received coffins or live prisoners, in an act viewed as lacking moral grounds. It was not until the Red Cross began their part of the transfer that the coffins were presented for view via the worldwide media, in a macabre and devastating maneouvre.
Points to Ponder
There have been many issues on the public agenda in the run-up to the prisoner swap with Hibullah, again through the good offices of German diplomatic channels:
a. It was presumed that Udi Goldwasser z"l and Eldad Regev's z"l chances of having survived the attack, severe injuries and the kidnap, were minimal, but the IDF Rabbinate refrained from declaring that they were Killed in Action (KIAs). This was significant and controversial, as the conditions of the deal had been worked out on the principle of exchanging live terrorists for live soldiers: the deal almost fell through due to public and political pressure inside Israel. Nonetheless, the terms of the exchange were relatively lower for Israel than those of previous exchanges, dating back to the 1980s.
b. The Israeli government viewed this exchange as the last opportunity to receive further information from Hizbullah about IAF navigator Ron Arad and was prepared to offer the Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar only in return for such information (in accordance with a related Israel Cabinet decision from 2004). The Israel Supreme Court declined to intervene on an action opposing the commutation of Kuntar's sentence and his release as part of the deal.
There was a great deal of public debate on this issue - most of which went in the direction of this being the only exchange on offer and that the families had waited long enough. Indeed, there was also heavy criticism of the government for its long delay in promoting a deal, on the grounds that procrastination changes the outcomes, as is claimed had happened in the Ron Arad case. On the other hand, political analysts criticized the deal heavily as capitulation to Hizbullah and as setting a precedent for the future that endangered lives of Israelis and Israeli armed forces.
c. In the final analysis, the quality of the information received about Ron Arad was not significant: it consisted of scanty personal material from his early years of capture by Amal and provided no sign of life about him after his transfer out of the hands of the Amal terrorist organization.
See related articles, videos and special coverage on our dedicated website:
The Final Farewell www.abducted.org.il
Pidyon Shevuyim
There are extensive Jewish sources relating to efforts to release Jewish captives - why it is important according to the Sages; who is obligated and to what extent; how to integrate this today, :
Explore these and discuss what you think Israel should do and what you can do to make a difference.
See the background units and activities prepared by the AZM, from our website.
Solidarity - Kol Yisrael Areivim
What is our individual and collective capacity to help?
Find out how families and serving soldiers feel - and transform your solidarity into impact on diplomatic action!
Integrate the curricular ideas from our earlier website unit about MIAs - simulated introduction using information about the soldiers; Jewish solidarity (kol Yisrael areivim). See:
Activities
Am I My Brother's Keeper?
Kol Yisrael Areivim Ze Lazeh
The Role and Responsibility of a Humanitarian Organization:
Should we focus efforts on international organizations to a greater extent?
As Haim Avraham, father of Staff Sgt Benny Avraham said, "How are our sons different from American prisoners?", or: why does the ICRC manage to receive information on many other prisoners around the world, but not on the Israeli ones?
Israel's Dilemmas - What would you recommend?
What are the standards and limits which Israel should adopt if a prisoner exchange becomes possible?
International Pressure and Action
Israel withdrew from Lebanon in May 2000
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When will Lebanon take full responsibility for events in its border zone with Israel?
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What can Israel do to ensure international law enforcement?
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How can Lebanon and Syria be subjected to international pressure to at least rein in what are essentially militia and terrorist groups?
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Campaign Focus (see next section)
Discuss:
Campaigns to Free the MIAs
1. The UNO as a focus for activity.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon: It is important to organize petitions and further rallies through the UN.
(see:19th October 2007 - Rally held at the UN Plaza, New York).
If you need photographs or information for future events or ideas, contact the Israeli Consulate General, NY [212] 499 5410 or the nearest Israeli Consular Office.
2. The International Coalition for Missing Israeli Soldiers - Petition
This website has good biographies and is campaigning for a Petition of 1,000,000 signatures to call for the release of the prisoners.
Please sign the petition to bring our boys home, on the website: http://www.mia.org.il/petition/index.html
3. Shabbat Vayeshev Dedication
The weekly portion is about Jacob's yearning for his lost son, Joseph. Dedication of Shabbat Chanukah to the MIAs - all your synagogue and school activities can address the family issues and call for action to help bring these men home safely.
Prayers for the welfare of the MIAs for your congregation, school and group [Hebrew/English] http://www.mia.org.il/prayer/
4. Educational Programming - Solidarity and letter campaigns
Be involved at every level; don't leave a stone unturned in your efforts to help Israel find out about and return her missing and abducted men!
Use the teaching units in schools, synagogues, committees and youth groups, then have them all send letters to:
Elected representatives;
Ambassadors to the UN;
Euro-MPs;
UN Secretary General Kofi Anan;
The ICRC
- to help secure the release of the abducted Israelis and the earlier MIAs.
For format, please see: http://www.ou.org/public/mias/sampleletter.htm
Please write also to the following to ask for their assistance in obtaining news of the MIAs and return of the bodies of the kidnapped soldiers:
Syrian Foreign Minister,
Lebanese Prime Minister,
UK PM Gordon Brown,
President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy...
Other campaign links [including photos, banners]:
http://www.ou.org/public/mias/
5. Chanukah - A dedication to all our MIAs
We dedicate this night
A thought, a name,
The hope of freedom, ever bright.
We now kindle these Chanukah lights
To shine for:
1. Zvi Feldman
2. Ron Arad
3. Adi Avitan
4. Zachary Baumel
5. Guy Hever
6. Eli Cohen
More Links
1. The Israeli MIAs website, with all the MIAs and chronology
http://www.mia.org.il/
2. Photos of the kidnapped soldiers
http://www.ou.org/public/mias/