[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 14507]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 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.

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