Transcript [00:00] Everybody, so there's a headline in [00:01] Israel today that is shaking me [00:05] to the core on a very personal level and [00:07] I'll explain why in this video. You do [00:08] not want to miss this one. [00:13] So, here's the headline. [00:15] After 44 years, IDF finds returns [00:19] remains of Yehuda Katz who went missing [00:22] in the First Lebanon War. [00:26] Katz was declared missing following the [00:28] Battle of Sultan Yacoub in Lebanon [00:30] alongside two other soldiers, Zachary [00:32] Baumel [00:33] and Zvi Feldman. After 44 years [00:36] Israel has located and returned the [00:38] remains of fallen IDF soldier Yehuda [00:40] Katz during a covert operation in [00:42] Lebanon overnight based on joint Mossad [00:45] and IDF intelligence collected over [00:46] several years, the military confirmed on [00:49] Tuesday. [00:50] In an operation led by the military [00:52] intelligence and a joint community [00:53] effort with the Mossad, the remains of [00:55] Yehuda were located and brought to [00:57] Israel, the IDF said. After they were [01:00] brought to Israel, an identification [01:01] process was conducted at the military [01:03] rabbinate's center for the [01:04] identification of fallen in cooperation [01:06] with the medical corps [01:08] and the Israel police. [01:10] Now, [01:12] um [01:17] let me explain why why this is shaking [01:19] me to the core. [01:22] Back in 1994 [01:26] in July of 1994, I moved to Israel [01:29] and immediately upon moving to Israel I [01:32] was hired [01:34] by an organization [01:36] called the International Coalition for [01:39] Missing Israeli Soldiers. This [01:41] organization was founded [01:43] by the families [01:45] of missing Israeli soldiers. [01:48] Um [01:49] principally three of the families. There [01:51] was a fourth family that uh [01:53] participated in what we did. [01:56] Um [01:58] and [02:01] the Katz family was one of those [02:02] families. One of the missing Israeli [02:04] soldiers [02:05] that we were advocating for was Yehuda [02:07] Katz. And those of you who are old [02:09] enough to remember the '90s uh you know, [02:12] politics with Israel and and what was [02:14] going on, you might remember the missing [02:15] Israeli soldier campaign. [02:17] Um [02:18] there were some places where people wore [02:19] bracelets, but throughout Israel and I [02:22] think it spread to outside of Israel, [02:23] people started wearing dog tags with the [02:25] names of the soldiers on them. It was [02:26] very appropriate because the whole idea [02:28] of a dog tag Israeli dog tag where it's [02:30] perforated in the middle um [02:32] uh is that you know, half of it there's [02:35] there's two dog tags and there's a piece [02:36] that goes in your boot and a piece that [02:37] goes in [02:38] uh [02:39] you know, somewhere else and and you [02:40] have a dog tag around your neck and it's [02:42] a symbol of the soldier's life. So, we [02:44] put their names on dog tags [02:46] and all over Israel people were wearing [02:47] them. And many of you watching will [02:49] probably remember those and there was [02:50] bumper stickers all over Israel in [02:52] Hebrew [02:53] Tashwim and Achshav to bring back [02:56] uh the missing and captive soldiers [02:58] right you know, now. [03:00] And it was during the early days of the [03:01] Oslo process. This is during 1994 and [03:03] '95. And I became the executive director [03:06] of this campaign, of the campaign for [03:08] Israel's missing soldiers and we did a [03:09] lot of public events. [03:11] Uh and um [03:13] and we lobbied because the Oslo [03:15] negotiations [03:17] uh after the initial signing of the Oslo [03:19] Accords, this was during the years of [03:20] all those negotiations and this was this [03:22] was all a part of it and I became very [03:24] close to the families of the missing [03:25] Israeli I worked with them advocating [03:28] for their cause. [03:29] Uh and there's a lot of stories I can [03:30] tell about all that. [03:32] Uh so, this is very personal to me. I I [03:34] literally uh was you know, this was my [03:36] life for a while was the was um [03:40] seeking information and seeking you [03:41] know, to move forward on on uh on [03:44] finding the remains of these missing [03:45] soldiers or or their or or bringing them [03:47] home. They were believed to be alive and [03:48] I'll get into that momentarily. And I [03:51] want to take you through this story. [03:53] So, the website of the organization that [03:54] I led, the International Coalition for [03:56] Missing Israeli Soldiers, is still up. [03:58] It still exists. [03:59] Um this was the very beginning of the [04:01] internet. I remember when we first uh [04:02] started [04:04] uh with all this. I I didn't This [04:05] website might have been built I think it [04:07] was built after I left this particular [04:10] um version of it. [04:13] Um but yeah, this is the website [04:14] mia.org.il [04:16] and all the information is still there. [04:17] So, I want to take you through some of [04:19] uh I'm going to take you through this [04:19] story. [04:21] On June 11th, 1982, five Israeli [04:23] soldiers went missing in a battle with [04:24] Syrian and Palestinian forces near the [04:26] Lebanese village of Sultan Yacoub. [04:29] Several years later, [04:31] two of the captured soldiers [04:34] or there were five taken. [04:36] So, sever- several years later, two of [04:38] the five captive soldiers [04:41] were brought home. [04:43] Um [04:45] they were returned in a in in uh in a [04:47] prisoner exchange with Syria and Ahmed [04:49] Jibril's PFLP. [04:51] Three soldiers, [04:53] the other three, Zachary Baumel, [04:55] Yehuda Katz, and Zvi Feldman. [04:58] Zachary There's uh Zachary Baumel, Zvi [05:00] Feldman, Yehuda Katz. [05:01] are still missing. This is what This was [05:03] written back in the '90s. Zachary Baumel [05:05] is an American citizen. [05:07] Several hours after the battle, Dean [05:09] Brellis, a reporter for Time magazine, [05:12] reported that something interesting [05:13] could be seen in Damascus. [05:15] Three Israeli soldiers were being [05:17] publicly paraded in a procession of [05:19] captured tanks [05:21] through the streets of Damascus. Here's [05:22] that Here's a picture of that. [05:24] Okay, these are This is a picture [05:26] of Israeli soldiers being paraded [05:28] through the streets of Damascus. [05:33] Here's what Brellis wrote. [05:35] Quote, "The Israeli crew looked [05:36] exhausted, downcast, typically combat [05:39] fatigued. When the crowd surged around [05:41] them taunting, they looked frightened. [05:43] It was a public parade as if it were [05:45] right through the center of as it were [05:47] right through the center of Damascus. [05:49] And once it passed, I never saw the tank [05:50] or the Israelis again. That's Dean [05:52] Brellis quoted in a letter by John F. [05:54] Scott, first secretary of the US Embassy [05:56] of Tel Aviv from June 16th, 1983. [05:59] Correspondence from AP, La Stampa, and [06:01] the Syrian media confirmed the report. [06:04] Since the battle, there have been many [06:06] conflicting reports regarding the [06:07] whereabouts and condition of the missing [06:09] men. Over the years, Palestinian and [06:10] Syrian officials have made many [06:12] references to information in their [06:14] possession regarding the MIAs, but have [06:17] been unwilling to cooperate in efforts [06:19] to return the missing soldiers to their [06:20] families. So, despite Israel's best [06:22] efforts, Yehuda Katz and Zvi Feldman, [06:25] the children of Holocaust survivors, and [06:26] Zachary Baumel, remain unaccounted for [06:29] for despite ongoing reports, including [06:32] the 1988 Amnesty International report [06:34] and the 1993 Amnesty International [06:36] December update, indicating that some of [06:39] the missing soldiers are still alive and [06:40] are being held under Syrian control. [06:42] This was written in the mid-90s. [06:44] So, here's a picture. And here is an [06:46] Associated Press report from from that [06:48] day, from the day of the battle, June [06:49] 11th, 1982, Friday. Followed by a line [06:52] of horn-honking motorists and cheered by [06:54] passersby, soldiers paraded a captured [06:57] Israeli tank through the streets of [06:58] Damascus Friday after Syria agreed to a [07:01] cease-fire with Israel in Lebanon. The [07:03] tank rumbled down Beirut Avenue in the [07:05] Syrian capital and stopped in front of [07:06] the offices of President Hafez Assad's [07:09] brother Rifaat [07:11] who commands the elite defense brigade [07:13] commandos. The Syrian soldiers shouted [07:15] slogans, and motorists who lined up [07:17] behind the tank honked their car horns [07:19] as it moved down the street, belching [07:21] black smoke and flying Syrian and [07:23] Palestinian flags. At Rifaat Assad's [07:25] office, it was greeted by cheers, and [07:27] one security man fired a pistol in the [07:29] air. Witnesses said the Syrian soldiers [07:32] had prisoners that they identified as [07:34] the crew of an Israeli tank. [07:37] And this is from [07:38] Amnesty International 6 years later, [07:40] 1988. Reports were received in mid-1987 [07:43] suggesting that the three Israelis three [07:45] Israeli soldiers who disappeared in 1982 [07:47] following their capture after a battle [07:49] in eastern Lebanon were alive and in [07:51] Syrian custody. However, the precise [07:53] whereabouts of the three men, Zachary [07:54] Baumel, Zvi Feldman, and Yehuda Katz, [07:55] was not known. And then in an update in [07:59] in December of 1993, five years later, [08:02] we read as follows and it gives more [08:04] information on the battle here. [08:05] Zachary Baumel and Zvi Feldman were in [08:07] one tank together with First Sergeant [08:09] Hezi Shay, the commander, and First [08:10] Sergeant Ariel Lieberman. All four are [08:13] reported to have left their tank [08:15] safely and to have dispersed in an [08:17] attempt to escape from the battleground. [08:19] Hezi Shay was captured the night of the [08:21] 11th of June and held by the PFLP [08:24] General Command. That's the Popular [08:26] Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a [08:28] Palestinian armed group allied to Syria [08:30] led by Ahmed Jibril. Hezi Shay was [08:33] returned to Israel on May 20th, 1985 as [08:36] part of a prisoner exchange between [08:38] Israel and the PFLP-GC [08:40] which had held him in secret until [08:42] mid-1994. [08:44] Ariel Lieberman [08:47] um [08:49] Ariel Lieberman was captured on the 12th [08:53] of June. That didn't make much sense. [08:55] Till mid-1984. Ariel Lieberman was [08:57] captured on the 12th of June by Syrian [08:58] troops. He was returned on the 28th of [09:01] June, 1984. It is not known what [09:03] happened to Zachary Baumel and Zvi [09:04] Feldman. They were the other two in that [09:05] tank. Yehuda Katz was in a second tank [09:08] together with Captain Zohar Lifshitz, [09:10] the commander, who was killed in the [09:12] battle, and two other soldiers who [09:14] managed to escape safely from the [09:15] battlefield. It is not known what [09:17] happened to Yehuda Katz. Reports speak [09:19] of Israeli prisoners of war, of their [09:21] bodies being brought to the village of [09:23] Ayta al-Fakhar near Sultan near Sultan [09:26] Yacoub on June 11th, 1982. They were [09:28] alleged to have been paraded there by [09:30] Palestinian fighters, apparently [09:31] including members of the PLO's Fatah, [09:34] the largest Palestinian armed group, and [09:36] the Sa'iqa, [09:38] another Palestinian armed group allied [09:39] to Syria. According to several media [09:41] accounts on the afternoon of 11th June [09:43] 1982, a captured Israeli tank with a [09:45] number of Israeli POWs on it was paraded [09:47] through Damascus. The Sa'iqa was [09:49] apparently responsible for organizing [09:51] the parade. Syrian officials are [09:53] reported to have described the men as [09:54] Israeli POWs who were members of the [09:57] tank crew. So, there were five captured [09:59] on that day. [10:01] They were captured by different groups. [10:02] They ran in different directions. I In [10:04] the course of my work uh leading the the [10:06] campaign for the missing Israeli [10:07] soldiers, I had to become an expert in [10:09] this story. So, I also I actually [10:12] interviewed personally uh I interviewed [10:15] like not for media. This was an [10:17] interview for media, meaning I [10:18] personally uh recorded private [10:20] confidential interviews with a number of [10:22] soldiers who were in this battle. [10:24] Uh including one soldier who was [10:25] probably the last person to see Zvi [10:27] Finkelstein. [10:28] Um [10:29] uh [10:30] Anyway, uh so, this brings back a lot [10:32] for me, but this is the story. This is [10:33] what happened. It was one of the most uh [10:35] costly battles in Israel's history. It [10:37] was a disaster of a battle where the [10:39] basically the tanks went in and they uh [10:42] they ended up [10:43] uh going into this into this uh not not [10:46] exactly a ditch, but there was like a [10:47] mountain ridge and the tanks drove down [10:50] into the center of it and there were [10:51] terrorist groups [10:52] up on the up on the ridge and it was [10:54] like uh shooting fish in a barrel and [10:56] then the tanks had to all uh move out. [10:58] They had to retreat and the the retreat [11:00] didn't go well. It was a costly battle [11:03] for Israel. One of one of again, one of [11:04] the most one of the costliest battles in [11:06] in Israel's history. It was a debacle. [11:08] Uh a number of soldiers were killed. A [11:10] lot of tanks were lost. [11:12] Um and uh these two these two tanks uh [11:15] didn't make it out and some of the [11:16] soldiers were taken captive. [11:18] Um there's a lot more to that story. [11:21] But uh there were then indications of [11:25] of the men being alive. There was the [11:27] Amnesty International reports and on the [11:28] website here, we still have this up [11:30] there all of the different testimonies [11:32] and indications a journalist here some [11:34] some drug dealer here someone who saw [11:36] them in a prison [11:38] you know there's or saw them being held [11:40] there was all sorts of indications [11:41] throughout the years. [11:43] And then in 1993 Yasser Arafat this was [11:46] this was right around the time of the [11:47] beginning of the Oslo Accords of the [11:49] handshake with Bill Clinton and this was [11:51] he he was using this as a kind of [11:52] confidence building measure. [11:54] Yasser Arafat the head of the PLO who [11:56] became the head of the Palestinian [11:57] Authority gave [12:00] Here's what it says Yasser Arafat [12:01] delivered half of Zachary Baumel's dog [12:03] tag to Jacques Neriah advisor to Prime [12:07] Minister Rabin. [12:09] Rabin was the Prime Minister right? [12:10] Arafat promises that more information [12:12] will be forthcoming. [12:14] Nothing further is heard on the issue [12:16] from Arafat. So Yasser Arafat gave the [12:18] dog tag [12:19] to he delivered the dog tag through an [12:21] intermediary to the Prime Minister [12:23] Yitzhak Rabin. [12:24] Now what that obviously meant was that [12:28] Yasser Arafat [12:30] knows more information. Where did he get [12:32] the dog tag? Simple question who gave it [12:34] to you? Cuz we weren't even sure there [12:35] were a lot of different terrorist groups [12:36] in the Lebanon war and these men as you [12:39] saw from that narrative weren't even all [12:40] being held by the same people. [12:43] Because there was a lot of different [12:43] terrorist groups at that battle the [12:45] soldiers ran in different directions. [12:47] They weren't all necessarily captured [12:48] together. [12:49] And that's why five were missing [12:51] initially and three were on that tank [12:53] right? You have and there were some [12:55] whose bodies came back who were [12:56] deceased. [12:58] So when this happened [13:01] around this time I wrote my first column [13:04] that I ever wrote for the Jerusalem [13:05] Post. I was in my early 20s. [13:08] First time I ever got published in the [13:09] Jerusalem Post I'm now a regular writer [13:11] for them. I have an author page at the [13:12] Jerusalem Post you probably know that if [13:13] you watch this channel. [13:15] But here it is [13:16] now you can't find it online this is [13:18] long before the Jerusalem Post was [13:19] online but on the website of mia.org.il [13:23] this website there's an archive of all [13:25] of the all of the media [13:28] uh [13:29] reports [13:30] from the organization. At the time we [13:32] used to post them. We would uh [13:35] you know, we would put them in. [13:36] So, here is the first op-ed I ever [13:38] wrote. [13:39] It was April 18th, 1995. [13:42] Headline, "Arafat's clearest violation." [13:45] And we were talking about this at the [13:45] beginning of the Oslo Accords. [13:47] And [13:49] in the Oslo Accords, well, I'll lay it [13:51] out here. In the Oslo Accords, the [13:53] it Well, here's what it says. [13:55] "In meetings with Israelis, PLO [13:57] officials claim they have stepped up [13:59] their efforts to stem terrorism." This [14:01] is after the first stage of [14:02] implementation of the Oslo Accords, [14:04] right? And the And the PLO, which was [14:06] taking over to become the Palestinian [14:08] Authority shortly thereafter, was [14:10] supposed to fight terrorism. That was [14:13] the whole [14:14] insanity of Oslo. [14:16] "This claim has been accompanied by a [14:18] media debate about whether or not the [14:20] agreement with the PLO has been a [14:21] success in light of arguable arguable [14:24] Palestinian Authority violations. [14:26] However, one might assess the PA's [14:28] behavior vis-à-vis Israeli security, [14:32] one violation is painfully clear. [14:34] The following is item two of the first [14:36] appendix of the Cairo Accord signed [14:38] between Israel and the PLO on May 4th, [14:40] 1994." So, the original handshake uh [14:43] between Arafat and Rabin with Bill [14:45] Clinton was on was in September 1993. [14:47] And then in May 1994, they signed the [14:49] Cairo Accord, which was the first [14:51] implementation [14:52] uh uh agreement of how this Oslo Accord [14:55] was going to be implemented. Okay? And [14:57] what does it say there? Quote, "The PLO [14:59] undertakes to cooperate with Israel and [15:02] to assist in its efforts to locate and [15:04] return to Israel Israeli soldiers who [15:06] are missing in action and the bodies of [15:08] killed soldiers which have not been [15:09] recovered." Okay, so they they undertake [15:11] to cooperate with Israel and assist. [15:14] "Since this statement was signed by PLO [15:16] Chairman Yasser Arafat, Arafat has [15:17] routinely denied possession of any [15:19] information about Israel's missing [15:20] soldiers. [15:21] This denial defies both logic and [15:24] history. On December 6th, 1993, Arafat, [15:27] in a widely publicized gesture, [15:29] delivered half of the ID tag belonging [15:31] to Zachary Baumel, one of three Israeli [15:33] soldiers missing since the Battle of [15:34] Sultan Yacoub in 19 [15:36] in 1982. [15:38] Arafat promised to divulge further [15:39] information within 2 weeks. It has been [15:41] 15 months since that pledge was made and [15:43] no such information has been [15:44] forthcoming. The return of their son's [15:46] ID tag did not, as the Prime Minister [15:48] had hoped, bring sudden comfort to the [15:50] Baumels. [15:52] It did, however, verify that the PLO [15:54] possesses, at the very least, critical [15:56] information regarding the fate of the [15:57] Sultan Yacoub MIAs. [15:59] Arafat has never revealed when, where, [16:01] and from whom he came to possess the [16:03] Baumel ID tag. This simple piece of data [16:06] represents a vital vital information as [16:08] whoever brought the ID tag to Arafat's [16:10] office [16:11] offices is one step closer to Baumel and [16:14] the other captives. Furthermore, it was [16:16] well known to the families of the MIAs, [16:18] as well as the Israeli government, that [16:19] for years Arafat possessed the entire [16:22] unbroken ID tag. The return of only half [16:24] the tag is a slap in the face, one whose [16:26] greater symbolism must not be lost. [16:28] Arafat knows full well that the Israeli [16:31] army ID tag represents the life of a [16:32] soldier and that a broken tag implies [16:34] death. [16:35] Additionally, the known facts about the [16:37] missing men implicate Arafat. It was [16:39] widely reported in 1982 that the three [16:41] Israeli tank crewmen were paraded [16:43] through the streets of Damascus. Even [16:44] Amnesty International, whose attitude [16:46] towards Israel is consistently less than [16:48] favorable, has reported that the men are [16:50] believed to be alive and held in [16:52] Syrian-controlled Lebanon. [16:53] For over half a year after that after [16:56] their capture, the Sultan Yacoub [16:57] captives were held in PLO custody before [17:00] the faction holding them split from the [17:02] PLO, taking the soldiers with them. [17:04] It is inconceivable that Arafat does not [17:06] know who these men are and where they [17:08] went. To make matters worse, at a press [17:10] conference in Moscow in April 25th last [17:12] year, Rabin said that he knew Arafat had [17:15] further information, but that Arafat was [17:17] reluctant to divulge it for fear of [17:18] complicating his relationship with [17:20] Syria. It is difficult to imagine Arafat [17:23] pointing a finger at Assad for any [17:24] reason, let alone to help save Israeli [17:27] lives. Arguments are frequently made [17:30] that Arafat has changed his ways and [17:31] that his terrorist days are over. [17:33] Arafat's apologists also claim that he [17:36] is doing the best he can under difficult [17:38] circumstances. Even if the most generous [17:40] assessments of the PLO chairman's [17:41] behavior are true, the fact that he [17:43] continues to withhold information [17:45] regarding Israel's captive and missing [17:46] soldiers vindicates those who believe [17:49] otherwise. At last check, having any [17:51] part in the taking or holding of [17:52] hostages was still included in the [17:54] international definition of terrorism. [17:57] So, this was the first opinion piece I [17:59] ever wrote in the Jerusalem Post. [18:02] First piece I ever wrote. And uh you see [18:04] what it argues. It argues that Arafat [18:05] was in standing violation of the uh of [18:09] the Cairo Accords, which was the really [18:11] the implementation of Oslo, because he [18:13] was not divulging the information he had [18:15] about the missing Israeli soldiers, who [18:16] I mean, at the time, Amnesty was still [18:18] reporting them to be alive around that [18:20] time period. And uh alive or dead, the [18:22] families wanted uh closure, they wanted [18:24] information desperately. [18:26] Um I got to know these families. It's [18:28] very It's a very painful story. [18:30] Uh let's end off with uh just who Yehuda [18:32] Katz was, cuz he was a remarkable [18:35] remarkable human being. [18:38] So, I'm going to put his picture on the [18:39] screen instead of the text I'm reading [18:41] you [18:42] while I read you uh this [18:45] you know, about who he was. [18:50] Yehuda Katz was born on July 18th, 1959 [18:54] in Ramat Gan, Israel. [18:57] His parents, Yosef and Sarah, [18:59] were Holocaust survivors. [19:01] As a child, Yehuda demonstrated [19:03] extraordinarily extraordinary scholastic [19:06] ability and developed an almost [19:08] insatiable passion for Torah studies, [19:12] religious studies. [19:13] After completing high school, Yehuda [19:15] chose to do his military service in the [19:16] Israel Defense Forces as their [19:18] framework, which combines religious [19:20] studies in a Yeshiva seminary and army [19:23] service. Yehuda split his time between [19:25] religious studies at Yeshivat Kerem [19:27] B'Yavneh [19:28] and the IDF Armored Corps. [19:30] During this period, Yehuda's dedication [19:32] to study became almost legendary. [19:34] Usually sleeping only a few hours a [19:36] night, he spent the vast majority of his [19:39] day and night in the Yeshiva's study [19:41] hall as a star pupil, usually surrounded [19:44] by other students who wanted to benefit [19:46] from his remarkable erudition. [19:48] Yehuda's parents justifiably shared his [19:50] dreams of his one day becoming a leading [19:53] Judaic scholar and rabbinic figure. [19:56] For those in the Orthodox Jewish [19:59] community who are watching this video, [20:02] this name will mean something to you. [20:03] Yehuda Katz's study partner in Yeshiva [20:06] at the time was Rabbi Meir Goldwicht, [20:09] who's a very well-known rabbi to many [20:11] people who are probably watching this in [20:13] the in the American Orthodox Jewish [20:14] community and also in the Israeli [20:16] community as well. Rabbi Meir Goldwicht [20:18] was his study partner and Rabbi Meir [20:20] Goldwicht was a teacher of mine and we [20:22] had conversations about Yehuda Katz [20:24] and [20:25] they studied they were studying together [20:27] up until the moment they got on the [20:28] buses to go up to battle. [20:31] And he even has marked off in a volume [20:34] of his Talmud where they were up to when [20:35] they stopped studying that day. [20:39] In June 1982, [20:41] those dreams, his family's dreams of him [20:43] becoming a great Torah scholar, were [20:44] displaced by the nightmare of Sultan [20:46] Yacoub. [20:48] With the outbreak of hostilities in [20:49] Lebanon, Yehuda joined his friends in [20:50] Lebanon. He was sent into battle at [20:52] Sultan Yacoub just 10 days before his [20:55] scheduled release from the army. [20:57] It would be at the abortive Battle of [20:58] Sultan Yacoub that Yehuda's religious [21:01] conviction and leadership capabilities [21:03] would come to the fore one last time [21:05] before he would go missing before he [21:07] would go missing along with his [21:08] colleague Zachary Baumel and Naftali [21:09] Feldman. In a situation permeated with [21:12] fear and apprehension, [21:14] Yehuda gathered and addressed his [21:15] friends on several occasions. [21:17] He drew on his extensive knowledge of [21:19] the Jewish legal and ethical writings [21:22] and spoke of the proper ethical and [21:24] emotional qualities demanded demanded by [21:26] Jewish law of a soldier. [21:29] He successfully managed to strengthen [21:30] the resolve and calm of the and and calm [21:32] the fears of his fellow fellow soldiers, [21:35] many of whom had never before [21:37] experienced battle. [21:38] Let me explain something about what what [21:40] this this is I don't remember if I wrote [21:42] this or who wrote this, [21:44] but let me tell you what he did. [21:45] Before they went into battle, when they [21:47] were at the staging ground and they knew [21:48] that they were going into battle, that [21:50] last battle where he was taken, [21:53] he was really again revered among his [21:56] among his peers as this [21:58] he was obviously headed for greatness as [22:00] a Torah scholar. They all knew that, so [22:01] they all kind of looked up to him. He [22:02] was like the spiritual leader of the [22:04] group even though he was one of their [22:05] peers. He was one of their soldiers, but [22:06] he was also nearing the end of his time [22:08] in the army, so he was a little older [22:09] and they were all yeshiva student [22:11] soldiers. [22:13] He gathered everyone together [22:15] and he opened up Maimonides, Maimonides [22:18] Code of Law, where Maimonides talks [22:19] about the proper preparation that that a [22:21] Jewish soldier must have going into [22:24] battle fighting for the nation of [22:25] Israel. [22:26] And how one can't be afraid and one has [22:28] to put one's trust in God and [22:30] and understand what you know, [22:32] what we're doing and the seriousness of [22:34] it and he gave them like a a spiritual [22:35] pep talk. And then he gathered everyone [22:38] together and they and they held hands [22:40] and they danced a a slow deliberate [22:43] dance in a circle, [22:45] uh preparing themselves spiritually [22:47] for battle. [22:49] Uh I've heard this story told to me [22:51] personally by numerous soldiers who were [22:53] there, who were part of this. It also [22:56] someone's uh snapped a picture of it and [22:58] it got reported. It ended up being [22:59] reported in the Israeli media at the [23:01] time of this dancing [23:04] platoon as it were of this tank this [23:07] tank group this group of tanks. [23:10] >> [snorts] [23:11] >> But that was Yehuda Katz. He was the one [23:13] who led that at the time. [23:16] Three years later [23:18] Hezi Shai an Israeli soldier captured [23:20] also Tania by forces loyal to Ahmed [23:23] Jibril's PFLP was returned to Israel in [23:25] a prisoner exchange. [23:27] Upon [snorts] his return Shai reported [23:29] that he he overheard his captors talking [23:31] about other Israeli prisoners and heard [23:33] Yehuda's name mentioned. Over the years [23:35] the Katz family has pursued every iota [23:37] of information regarding Yehuda never [23:39] forsaking the belief that he would come [23:40] back to them. [23:42] Grounded grounded in this conviction [23:44] his sister [23:46] Perhiya named her son Yochai a shortened [23:49] version of Yo short for Yehuda Chai [23:53] lives Yehuda lives. Yehuda also [23:55] continues to be remembered in the hearts [23:56] and minds of the student body at Yeshiva [23:58] Kerem BeAvneh. Since Yehuda's [24:00] disappearance a daily prayer has been [24:02] offered on his behalf by succeeding [24:03] generations of students at the Yeshiva. [24:05] Well not anymore now they know that he [24:07] once they verified that he would that he [24:08] was no longer alive. It actually [24:10] happened a few years ago. [24:12] Yehuda's locker at Kerem BeAvneh still [24:14] bears his name [24:15] and has not been touched since his [24:16] disappearance. [24:18] I don't know if I can verify that that's [24:20] still the case. [24:22] But yeah. [24:24] So this is this is a very personal story [24:26] to me but it's also a national story. [24:28] It's a [24:30] you know it brings me back to [24:32] the beginning of my of adult life. I was [24:34] in my early 20s. [24:36] I was I was 24 25 years old when I was [24:38] working on this. [24:40] And um [24:43] Zachary Baumel [24:45] and Zvi Feldman were already confirmed [24:46] to be deceased. [24:48] Those stories are also closed. [24:52] So may his memory be a be a blessing to [24:54] us all. [24:56] Thank you for watching.
