The retrieval of the remains of Cpl. Yaacov Ruina, an Israeli soldier missing in Sinai since the war of attrition in the early 1970’s, has raised hope that scores of other Israeli soldiers and sailors missing in action over a period of nearly two decades will be accounted for.
Ruina’s body was returned to Israel this week. An Israeli delegation sent to Egypt to locate MIAs, said it was found in a grave in an Egyptian military cemetery. Gad Navon, the chief army chaplain, and his aides flew to the site and identified the soldier, reportedly by his dogtags.
EGYPT EXTENDS MAXIMUM COOPERATION
The delegation returned here with more information about soldiers missing since the Yom Kippur War in 1973. They said the Egyptian authorities extended maximum cooperation. Ruina’s, however, was only the sixth body returned from Egypt since 1974. Navon said Israel is using highly sophisticated methods of identification and hoped that more bodies will now be identified.
The missing include soldiers who fought in the 1967 Six-Day War; sailors who went down with the Israeli destroyer Eilat, sunk by the Egyptians; and the 69 crew members of the Israeli submarine Dakar, which was posted missing in January, 1968, probably in Egyptian waters.
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