Remains of Sergeant Major Yehuda Katz brought to Israel
Following an operation led by Aman and the Mossad, the remains of Yehuda Katz, missing since 1982, have been recovered and returned to Israel. Identification was completed by the Military Rabbinate.
In an operation led by Aman and a joint effort with the Mossad, the remains of Yehuda Katz, of blessed memory, were located and brought to Israel. Upon their arrival, an identification process was conducted at the Military Rabbinate's Identification Center, in cooperation with the Medical Corps and the Israel Police.
The family of Yehuda Katz was updated throughout the years regarding the ongoing efforts to locate him. Upon the completion of the mission, the notification of the return of their loved one was delivered to the family. Unfortunately, Yehuda's parents, Sarah and Yosef Katz, did not live to receive the news.
Katz was born in Ramat Gan to Yosef and Sarah Katz, Holocaust survivors. He studied at the Nehalim Yeshiva and later at the Kerem B'Yavneh Yeshiva under Rabbi Chaim Yaakov Goldvicht. As a child, he showed academic talent, especially in religious studies.
Yehuda served in the Armored Corps. When the Lebanon War broke out, he fought in a tank alongside Lieutenant Zohar Lifshitz, of blessed memory, who served as the tank commander. He was sent to the Battle of Sultan Yacoub on June 11, 1982, just ten days before his scheduled release from the army.
Zohar Lifshitz was killed in that same battle, and his body was returned as part of a prisoner exchange with Syria on July 1, 1984. Yehuda Katz, Zvi Feldman, and Zachary Baumel were considered missing in action from the Battle of Sultan Yacoub for many years.
Since Katz was declared missing, the IDF and his family engaged in various attempts to obtain information about his fate. According to the IDF Intelligence Directorate, those who held information were Palestinian elements in Syria under the direction of the PLO and its leader at the time, Yasser Arafat, who, along with his deputy Abu Jihad, led an effort of concealment and deception to hinder the IDF's search.
