Remembering the Mias of Sultan Yaqub on the 21st Anniversary of Thier Capture

REMEMBERING THE MIAS OF SULTAN YAQUB ON THE 21ST ANNIVERSARY OF THEIR CAPTURE

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me in remembering the Israeli soldiers captured by the Syrians during the 1982 Israeli war with Lebanon. It is with great sadness that we mark today 21 long years of anguish for their families, who continue to desperately seek information about their sons.

On June 11, 1982, an Israeli unit battled with a Syrian armored unit in the Bekaa Valley in northeastern Lebanon. Sergeant Zachary Baumel, First Sergeant Zvi Feldman, and Corporal Yehudah Katz were captured by the Syrians that day. They were identified as an Israeli tank crew, and reported missing in Damascus. the Israeli tank, flying the Syrian and Palestinian flag, was greeted with cheers from bystanders.

Since that terrible day in 1982, the governments of Israel and the United States have been doing their utmost by working with the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations, and other international bodies to obtain any possible information about the fate of the missing soldiers. According to the Geneva Convention, Syria is responsible for the fates of the Israeli soldiers because the area in Lebanon where the soldiers disappeared was continually controlled by Syria. To this day, despite promises made by the government of Syria and by the Palestinians, very little information has been released about the condition of Zachary Baumel, Zvi Feldman, and Yehudah Katz.

Today marks the anniversary of the day that these soldier were reported missing in action. Twenty-one pain-filled years have passed since their families have seen their sons, and still Syria has not revealed their whereabouts nor provided any
information as to their condition.

One of these missing soldiers, Zachary Baumel, is an American citizen from my home of Brooklyn, NY. An ardent basketball fan, Zachary began his studies at the Hebrew School in Boro Park. In 1979, he moved to Israel with other family members and continued his education at Yeshivat Hesder, where religious studies are integrated with army service. When the war with Lebanon began, Zachary was completing his military service and was looking forward to attending Hebrew University, where he had been accepted to study psychology. but fate decreed otherwise and on June 11, 1982, he disappeared with Zvi Feldman and Yehudah Katz.

During the 106th Congress, I cosponsored and helped to pass Public Law 106-89, which specifies that the State Department must raise the plight of these missing soldiers in all relevant discussions and report findings to Congress regarding the development in the Middle East. We need to know that every avenue has been pursued in order to help bring about the speedy return of these young men. Therefore, I strongly feel that we must be sure to continue the full implementation of Public Law 106-89, so that information about these men can be brought to light.

Zachary's parents Yonah and Miriam Baumel have been relentless in their pursuit of information about Zachary and his compatriots. I have worked closely with the Baumels, as well as the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, and the American Coalition of Missing Israeli Soldiers, and the MIA Task Force of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. These groups have been at the forefront of this pursuit of justice. I want to recognize their good work and ask my colleagues to join me in supporting their efforts. For two decades these families have been without their children. Answers are long overdue.

The agony of the families of these kidnapped Israeli soldiers is extreme. They have not heard a word regarding the fate of their sons. I believe that we must pledge to do our utmost to obtain information about these soldiers and to bring them home, for the sake of peace, decency and humanity.