Defense Minister Moshe Dayan said yesterday that Egypt was disregarding a provision of the 90-day-cease-fire agreement that required the parties to abide by the 1949 Geneva Convention relative to the treatment of prisoners of war. According to Gen. Dayan, wounded prisoners of certain types must be freed without regard to the status of hostilities. He said that Egypt was not abiding by that provision, except in the case of Capt. Yigal Shochat, a Phantom jet pilot shot down Aug. 3, who was repatriated yesterday. Gen. Dayan spoke at an impromptu press conference at a military hospital where he greeted the returned airman. Captain Shochat’s leg was amputated in an Egyptian prison hospital, apparently to prevent the spread of gangrene. He was transferred to Israel under auspices of the International Red Cross, via chartered plane from Cairo to Cyprus and by Israel Air Force transport to Tel Aviv. Capt. Shochat was reported to be in serious condition but not in danger when he arrived here. Premier Golda Meir visited Capt. Shochat in the hospital today. She was accompanied by Gen. Shlomo Lahat, chief of the manpower branch of the Israel Army and Col. Reuben Eldar, chief of the Medical Corps. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Haim Bar Lev and Air Force Commander Gen. Mordechai Hod were also waiting at the hospital along with Gen. Dayan When the young flier opened his eyes, he said, “Thank God I’m out of that mad house.” Capt. Shochat had no information on the fate of his navigator. Moshe Goldwasser, who bailed out with him over Egypt when their F-4 fighter was downed while attacking missile sites. Both men were reportedly shot at while descending by parachute. Later Goldwasser was reported by the Egyptians to have died of a “heart malfunction.” Israel is seeking the return of his remains. Israel has sought in vain to arrange a prisoner-of-war exchange with Egypt for 13 Israeli airmen, soldiers and civilians in Egyptian captivity. Cairo insists that it will not discuss prisoner exchange except as part of a general peace agreement. There has also been no success whatsoever in obtaining the release of Shmuel Rosenwasser, a 50-year-old night watchman at Metullah who was kidnapped on the night of Dec. 31 by Arab guerrillas from Lebanon. Rosenwasser has been held in Jordan but Israel insists the responsibility for his release rests with Lebanon and has refused to negotiate with El Fatah.
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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.
