The International Red Cross has been unable to locate the whereabouts of 54 year-old Shmuel Rosenwasser, an Israeli farmer from Metullah, who was kidnapped by Arab guerrillas while on guard duty near the Lebanese border almost three weeks ago. He is being held in Lebanon. (According to a dispatch from James Ferron in Jerusalem to today’s New York Times. Rosenwasser “is understood to be held not by Lebanese authorities but by the El Fatah guerrilla organization, and in Syria rather than in Lebanon.”)
Defense Minister Moshe Dayan said yesterday that Israel was prepared to negotiate with Lebanese authorities for Rosenwasser’s return in exchange for 11 Lebanese soldiers and civilians held by Israel. Gen. Dayan asked Lt. Gen. Odd Bull, chief of the United Nations cease-fire observers corps in the Middle East to use his good offices although Gen. Bull has no official standing in the matter. He said that Israel would not negotiate with the terrorists under any circumstances for Rosenwasser’s release. Israel originally requested the aid from the Red Cross. A week ago, Israeli special forces units staged a bloodless raid on Qalla village inside Lebanon and on a Lebanese border police station, seizing 13 Lebanese soldiers and civilians. Four of the civilians have since been released and Israel is prepared to free the others in return for Rosenwasser. If Lebanese authorities agree, they will have to force the terrorists to hand the Israeli over. The terrorists have demanded that Israel negotiate his release directly with them.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
