BACKGROUND ON MISSING ISRAELI SOLDIERS
(Communicated by IDF Spokesman's Office)
Jerusalem, 21 July 1996
* Circumstances Surrounding The Capture of Sgt. Yosef Fink and Sgt. Rahamim Levi Alsheikh:
On 17 February 1986, at 12:00, a South Lebanon Army convoy, escorted by an IDF force, departed on a patrol in the Security Zone of South Lebanon in the area between Bint Jbail and Beit Yahoun. Approximately five hundred meters south of the Yahoun junction, Hizbullah terrorists opened fire at the force. Two IDF soldiers were captured in the ambush. On the same day the "Islamic Resistance Movement" released an announcement on Lebanese T.V. saying that four IDF soldiers had been captured in an operation in South Lebanon.
On 18 February 1986, Radio Beirut announced that the Israeli prisoners were severely wounded and were receiving medical treatment. On that day an ultimatum was issued via Lebanese T.V. and Radio, stating that if IDF soldiers who were searching the area did not withdraw, one of the captured soldiers would be executed.
On 19 February 1986, CBS T.V. broadcast a video showing the IDF POW cards of the prisoners.
On 21 February 1986, the Hizbullah weekly "El-'Ahad", appearing in Beirut, published a picture of the two Israeli prisoners hospitalized. Their faces were bandaged and hence they could not be identified.
In various interviews given by Hizbullah terrorist leaders in Beirut, the latter refused to discuss the place of detention and physical state of the captured soldiers. Neither did they issue demands for their release. It was later known that Hizbullah had executed them.
In 1991, the Chief IDF Chaplain, Maj. Gen. Rabbi Gad Navon, declared Sgt. Yosef Fink and Sgt. Rahamim Alsheikh to be deceased.
* Sgt. Yosef Fink and Sgt. Rahamim Levi Alsheikh:
Sgt. Rahamim Levi Alsheikh, the youngest of three brothers and four sisters, was raised in the town of Rosh HaAyin. He was an honor student at Kfar Ganim Yeshiva in Petah Tikva. At the completion of his studies he decided to join the IDF in the framework of the military-affiliated Yeshiva program and studied at a Yeshiva in Karnei Shomron.
Sgt. Yosef Fink's parents immigrated to Israel from England when he was two years old and settled in Ra'anana, Israel. He studied in the "Noam" Yeshiva in Pardes Hannah and later at the military-affiliated Yeshiva in Karnei Shomron. He is the elder brother of three sisters.
Sgt. Yosef Fink and Sgt. Rahamim Alsheikh were taken prisoner on 18 February 1986. The two were part of a Givati Brigade escort convoy in South Lebanon. Near the town of Beit Yahoun, Lebanon, the convoy was attacked by Hizbullah terrorists in a surprise ambush. The terrorists opened fire and killed one IDF soldier and wounded two others. During the incident the two soldiers who were taken prisoner, Fink and Alsheikh, were in the last car of the convoy. Several hours after the incident one of them was shown on television, although his face was bandaged. The Hizbullah terrorists issued an ultimatum - that if Israel did not remove its troops from South Lebanon, one of the soldiers would be killed.
Israeli officials believed that the soldier had died of his wounds immediately after the ambush. Nine months after they were taken prisoner initial contacts were made for an eventual prisoner exchange. Exactly one year after the incident, the Head of the Committee for the Defense of Palestinian Prisoners announced efforts were being made to exchange Palestinian prisoners for the two IDF soldiers held by Hizbullah terrorists. On 11 September 1991, Israel officially announced that Fink and Alsheikh were no longer alive, after having received proof of the fact. At the same time, efforts were underway to have the remains returned to Israel. In July 1989, Sheikh Abd-el Karim was taken prisoner in an attempt to pressure the Hizbullah terrorists to release Israeli prisoners of war. Sheikh Abd-el Karim was taken to Israel and confirmed in his interrogation that Alsheikh and Fink were no longer alive.
* Other IDF Soldiers Missing In Action
During the battle of Sultan Ya'akob, which took place in Lebanon on 11 June 1982, two tanks were damaged by Syrian fire. The commander of the first tank, Staff Sgt. Hezi Shai, was captured by members of the PFLP-GC
(headed by Ahmed Jibril) and was held in Damascus. He was later returned on 20 May 1985 in a prisoner exchange. Of the three remaining crew members, Staff Sgt. Ariel Lieberman was taken prisoner by the Syrians a day after the battle and held in a prisoner exchange on 28 June, 1984. The two additional crew members, Staff Sgt. Tzvi Feldman and Staff Sgt. Zacharia Baumel, were declared missing in action.
The second damaged tank was under command of the late Capt. Zohar Lipshitz, who was killed in the battle and buried on 4 July 1982 in the Jewish cemetery of Damascus. His remains were eventually returned to Israel on 24 June 1984. Two other tank crew members were evacuated to Israel, where they currently reside. The fourth crew member, Cpl. Yehuda Katz, was declared missing in action.
* The Unit For IDF Soldiers Missing In Action
Following the Yom Kippur War, the Unit for IDF Soldiers Missing In Action was established in the Casualty Dept. of the IDF General Staff Personnel Branch. The unit's original objective was to locate soldiers missing in action from that war. Most of the MIAs from that war were in fact located, although the search for the rest of the soldiers still continues. Teams of investigators are often dispatched to Egypt and one year ago a team succeeded in locating the remains of the late pilot Aran Cohen, whose plane had been shot down over Egypt and whose remains were discovered buried in the Nile Delta.
A number of years ago, the unit extended its mandate to deal with locating MIAs from all of Israel's wars and operations. Unit investigators carry out research in many archives (and especially the IDF Archive) and analyze the numerous testimonies which were recorded on MIAs. The unit perseveres in its tasks guided by the firm belief that it is the IDF's obligation to bring its servicemen home.
Recently, the unit located the remains of two MIAs from the 1948 War of Independence Flight Officer Lionel Bloch and IDF soldier Haim Pivlovich, who had been buried anonymously in Israeli military cemeteries. Their places of burial were finally located due to the painstaking research of the unit in coordination with and assisted by the IDF Chaplaincy Corps. Following the peace treaty with Jordan, the unit began efforts to locate IDF MIAs from battles on the Jordanian front. Members of the unit traveled to Jordan in an effort to locate the remains of Yisrael Erlichman and Moshe Takts, MIAs from the battle of Karameh; as well as the body of the intelligence agent Ya'acov Bukai, who had been executed by the Jordanians in 1949.