IV

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 122

Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding Israeli soldiers missing in

action and calling upon governments and authorities in the Middle East

to act to resolve these tragic cases.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 24, 1997

Mr. LANTOS submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred

to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding Israeli soldiers missing in action and calling upon governments

and authorities in the Middle East to act to resolve

these tragic cases.

Whereas Zachary Baumel, an American-Israeli soldier, has

been missing in action since June 1982 when he was captured by forces of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) following a tank battle with Syrian forces at

Sultan Ya’akub in Lebanon;

Whereas Yehuda Katz, an Israeli soldier, was also captured

at Sultan Ya’akub and has been missing in action since

June, 1982;
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HCON 122 IH

Whereas Zvi Feldman, an Israeli soldier, was also captured

at Sultan Ya’akub and has been missing in action since

June, 1982;

Whereas all three of these soldiers captured at Sultan

Ya’akub were last known to be in the hands of a Palestinian faction splintered from the PLO and operating

in Syrian-controlled territory thus making this a matter

within the responsibility of the Government of Syria;

Whereas Ron Arad, in October 1986, was forced to bail out

of his Israeli Air Force fighter jet and was taken captive

by the Lebanese Shiite Muslim organization, Amal;

Whereas there has been virtually no contact with any of these

four soldiers since their capture, nor have any diplomatic

efforts to secure their release been successful thus far, although Chairman Yasir Arafat did deliver one half of

Zachary Baumel’s dog tag to Israeli Government authorities; Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That the Congress—

3 (1) calls upon Chairman Yasir Arafat and other

4 officials in the Palestinian authority to use their

5 good offices with Syria, Lebanon, and the other gov6 ernments in the region to secure the safe return of

7 these four Israeli soldiers consistent with Chairman

8 Arafat’s obligation as specified in the May 4, 1994,

9 Gaza-Jericho agreement between the PLO and the

10 Israeli Government to cooperate with Israel in locat-
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HCON 122 IH

1 ing and working for the return of Israeli soldiers

2 missing in action;

3 (2) urges the Government of Syria to use its

4 good offices with the various paramilitary groups in

5 Syria and in areas in which Syria has influence to

6 bring about a resolution of this issue and secure the

7 safe return of these four Israeli soldiers missing in

8 action;

9 (3) calls upon the President, the Secretary of

10 State and other United States Government officials

11 to pursue aggressively and actively the resolution of

12 these tragic cases with all appropriate government

13 officials and through all appropriate channels; and

14 (4) urges the President and the Secretary of

15 State, as they formulate United States policy toward

16 each government or authority in the Middle East, to

17 take into consideration the level of assistance pro18 vided by that government or authority in resolving

19 these cases and to factor that judgment into consid20 erations of United States policy toward, and aid for,

21 each government or authority.

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