Declaring that “150 Israeli boys are missing in action on the Syrian front and we don’t know to this day if they are alive or dead,” Israeli Ambassador Simcha Dinitz urged the National Council of Jewish Women today to join in public and international demands that the Syrian government abide by the Geneva Convention governing prisoners of war and make immediately available the names of all Israeli military personnel in its hands.
The Israeli envoy, who spoke before 350 delegates attending the luncheon meeting of the NCJW’s joint program institute at the Shoreham Hotel, said the NCJW should not be silent “until every Israeli mother knows where her son is.” In an apparent allusion to Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger’s recent remark that he was “moderately optimistic” over the prospects of eventual Israeli-Syrian disengagement talks, Dinitz stated flatly that Israel will not negotiate “directly or indirectly” with Syria until the Geneva Convention requirements are met. “We shouldn’t be asked to negotiate anything until this is resolved.” he declared.
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