Premier Menachem Begin appealed tonight to the kidnappers of Oron Yarden to return the eight-year-old child, abducted Sunday and “prove that in spite of the crime you committed you still have a conscience. Do not torture the family,” he said.
Begin made his appeal in the course of an address to the Herut Executive Committee as the police continued their massive search for the boy augmented by army units, border police and scores of civilian volunteers. The search is centering on the Kfar Saba area where Oron’s father, Amos Yarden of Tel Aviv, left an IL2 million ransom payment Tuesday. The money was picked up but the child has not been released. No word has been heard since from the kidnappers.
Begin told the Herut meeting that he would consult with the Attorney General and suggest making kidnapping punishable by a minimum of 25 years imprisonment instead of the seven years now in effect. He spoke of the rise of criminal activity in general in Israel and said the State must root out such crimes as murder, rape and kidnapping which, until recently were not identified with the Jewish people.
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