[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 94 (Friday, June 9, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1217]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



[[Page E1217]]

     HONORING THE UNION OF ORTHODOX JEWISH CONGREGATIONS OF AMERICA

                                 ______


                        HON. CHARLES E. SCHUMER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 8, 1995
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor the Union of Orthodox 
Jewish Congregations of America. This national organization has played 
a leading role in raising awareness of the plight of three Israeli 
soldiers still missing in action. As a key member of the task force on 
the Israeli missing soldiers still missing in action. As a key member 
of the task force on the Israeli Missing Soldiers of the Conference of 
Presidents of Major American-Jewish Organizations, the Union of 
Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America pioneered and instituted an 
annual national Sabbath commemoration to educate the community about 
this important human rights issue.
  On June 11, 1982, a battle raged in the Bekaa Valley in Northeastern 
Lebanon between an Israeli tank unit and a Syrian armored unit. 
Captured by the Syrians on June 11, 1982, Sgt. Zachary Baumel, 1st Sgt. 
Zvi Feldman, and Cpl. Yehuda Katz were reported missing in Damascus in 
front of the offices of President Hafaz Assad's brother, Rifaat Assad, 
who reported that they identified the soldiers as the Israeli tank 
crew. The tank, belching black smoke and flying the Syrian and 
Palestinian flags, was greeted by cheers from passers-by. To this day, 
very little information has been forthcoming about their condition.
  Ever since these events took place, the government of Israel has 
spared no effort and the United States has been doing its utmost to 
obtain any information possible as to the fate of these missing 
soldiers, trying to utilize the offices of the International Committee 
of the Red Cross, the United Nations, and other international bodies. 
According to the Geneva Convention, Syria bears responsibility for 
their fate since the areas in which these soldiers disappeared were 
continually controlled by Syria.
  This day, June 11, 1995 marks the bar-mitzvah, or 13th year, that 
these soldiers are missing in action. To date, President Assad has not 
revealed their whereabouts.
  One of these soldiers, Zachary Baumel is an American citizen from 
Brooklyn, NY, who began his studies at the Hebrew School of Boro Park, 
formally known as the Eitz Chaim Yeshiva. An ardent basketball fan, 
Zachary emigrated to Israel in 1979 with the other members of his 
family. After graduation from high school, he entered military service 
which he combined with his religious studies at Yeshivat Hesder, where 
religious studies and army service are integrated.
  When the Lebanon War started, he was at the rail end of his army 
service and had been accepted by Hebrew University to study psychology. 
He was due to work for the summer under the auspices of the Jewish 
Agency. But fate decreed otherwise as he disappeared on the 11th of 
June, 1992.
  Zachary Baumel participated in one of the most costly battles in that 
war, Sultan Yakub, and has not yet returned. In the 13 years since that 
fateful day, June 11, 1982, he has been missing and presumed held in a 
Syrian-controlled part of Lebanon.
  We earnestly request of the Syrian government to transcend all 
political differences and interests, and, in keeping with the 
international conventions to which Syria is a signatory and in the 
interests of true peace, to return these sons to their families.
  We eagerly look forward to the day as we live in the hope of again 
welcoming Zachary Baumel to see his family in Israel and in Brooklyn 
and to greeting Zvi Feldman and Yehuda Katz.


                          ____________________