[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 87 (Thursday, June 13, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1088-E1089]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING ISRAELI MIA'S

                                 ______


                        HON. CHARLES E. SCHUMER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 13, 1996

  Mr. Speaker, 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.
  On June 11, 1982, an Israeli tank unit battled with a Syrian armored 
unit in the Bekaa Valley in northeastern Lebanon. Sgt. Zachary Baumel, 
1st Sgt. Zvi Feldman and Cpl. Yehudah Katz were captured by the Syrians 
that day. They were identified as the Israeli tank crew, and reported 
missing in Damascus. The Israeli tank, flying the Syrian and 
Palestinian flags, was greeted with cheers from bystanders.
  Since that terrible day in 1982, the Israeli and United States 
Governments have been doing their utmost to obtain any possible 
information about the fate of these missing soldiers, working with the 
offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United 
Nations, and other international bodies. 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 Syrian Government and by the PLO, very little information has been 
forthcoming about the condition of Zachary Baumel, Zvi Feldman, and 
Yehudah Katz.
  June 11 marked the anniversary of the day that these soldiers were 
reported missing in action. Fourteen pain-filled years have passed 
since their families have seen their sons, and still President Assad 
has not revealed their whereabouts.
  One of these missing soldiers, Zachary Baumel, is an American 
citizen, from my district in Brooklyn, NY. An ardent basketball fan, 
Zachary began his studies at the Hebrew School of 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.
  Zachary's parents Yoni and Miriam Baumel have been relentless in 
their pursuant of information about Zachary and his compatriots. I have 
worked closely with the Baumels, as well

[[Page E1089]]

as the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America and the 
American Coalition for Missing Israeli Soldiers. 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 14 years, these families have been without their children. Answers 
are long overdue.

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