In a demonstration of continued concern for the fate of Israeli soldiers missing in action, Jewish leaders presented a top Congressional official this week with a petition urging U.S. action to secure the return of the MIAs.
On Tuesday, a delegation from the United Jewish Appeal’s Young Leadership Cabinet presented House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) with a petition urging the United States to “redouble its efforts to secure the return of the Israeli MIAs and POWs and to end the terrible suffering of their families.”
The petition was signed by 2,600 delegates attending UJA’s Ninth National Young Leadership Conference here this week.
A UJA statement said that Gephardt promised the group that he would take the petition to the State Department and urge the administration to push forward on the MIA issue.
The issue of the Israeli MIAs has come to the fore in recent months, as MIA family members have visited the United States and urged U.S. officials to play an active part in trying to ascertain the fates of the soldiers, some of whom have been missing for over a decade.
Israel views resolution of the MIA issue as an important part of the Mideast peace process.
The MIAs include Ron Arad, captured in Lebanon in 1986, and Zacharia Baumel, Avi Feldman and Yehuda Katz, who disappeared during a tank battle in Lebanon in 1982. Arad is believed to have the best chance of being alive.
The UJA petition said that the United States “must insist that the governments of Syria and Lebanon and the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) cooperate fully to provide all information relating to MIAs and POWs.”
It also called on the United States to continue working with European, Mideastern and other governments, and the United Nations, to resolve the issue.
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.
