Sergeant First Class Zachary Baumel had been missing for nearly 40 years
The body of an Israeli soldier missing since the 1982 Lebanon war was found by the Russian army in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.
The remains of Sergeant First Class Zachary Baumel, a US-born tank commander who was fighting for the Israeli military in the 1982 war was flown back to Israel this week.
Zachary Baumel’s remains were recently discovered by Israel after he was declared missing in action in 1982. Photograph: Government press office/Handout/Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing reelection in five days, visited Moscow on Thursday for talks with Mr Putin.
On Wednesday, Israel announced the recovery of Baumel’s remains, which Mr Putin announced he had retrieved.
“Our military together with Syrian partners established the place of his burial … We are very pleased that at home they can give him the necessary military honours,” Mr Putin said, according to the Interfax news agency.
Cases of missing soldiers have a powerful emotional and political resonance in Israel, where military service is compulsory for most Jewish men.
Mr Netanyahu lauded the repatriation of Baumel’s remains. He said it was an “expression of mutual responsibility and feeling of unity”.
