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August 10, 2001/Av 21, 5761, Vol. 53, No.44
Sen. McCain to help find kidnapped Israelis
SHARON SAMBER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
For 10 months, the families of four Israelis kidnapped by Hezbollah have been waiting for their loved ones to return home.
Now the families have found a new source of hope, after U.S. lawmakers and Jewish groups indicated that the families' crusade has not been forgotten and that a new effort will be launched to get the four back.
But amid the uncertainty they have had to contend with since the abductions, the families now have to deal with a U.N. report indicating that as many as three of the four kidnap victims may have suffered serious injuries when they were abducted across the Israeli-Lebanese border - and that some or all of them may no longer be alive.
Last October, Hezbollah gunmen kidnapped three Israeli soldiers - Benny Avraham, Adi Avitan and Omar Souad - from a disputed border area known as Shabaa Farms.
Shortly after, Hezbollah kidnapped an Israeli businessman, Elhanan Tannenbaum, who also serves as a colonel in the Israeli reserves.
Last week, appearing outside the U.S. Senate, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) announced he would take part in an international commission to get information about the four and secure their release.
There has been no word from Hezbollah about the condition or fate of the prisoners despite repeated attempts by the families and the International Red Cross to gain information and access to the men.
"These families deserve to know," McCain said Aug. 2.
McCain also said he would work with Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) on legislation calling for increased U.S. involvement in the effort to bring the four Israelis home.
Many feel McCain's prominence will speed along a solution and that the senator's personal history will raise the issue's profile.
In 1967, McCain, a naval aviator, was shot down over Vietnam and held as a POW in Hanoi for five-and-a-half years, much of it in solitary confinement.
"All of Israel appreciates his efforts," Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington, said last week.
McCain accepted a pin depicting a blue ribbon of solidarity for the MIAs. Many officials wore stickers that read "Adi, Benjamin, Omar - Mother is Waiting."
The atmosphere at last week's announcement on the Senate steps - attended by the World Jewish Congress, the American Jewish Committee and other groups - was disturbed somewhat by protesters who shouted and held placards with such anti-Israel slogans as: "Condemn Israel's Aggression" and "Free Palestinian POWs in Israel."
The families of the four kidnap victims came to Washington to thank those involved with the increased efforts, including Israeli Ambassador David Ivry and former U.S. Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger.
Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said this week the Israeli defense establishment is working under the assumption that the soldiers are still alive.
Haim Avraham, father of one of the kidnapped soldiers, said he believed U.N. officials have additional "important details about the kidnapping of the boys, which must be disclosed."
For months, contacts have been held via third parties regarding an exchange of the Israeli abductees for Arab prisoners held by Israel.
JTA correspondent Naomi Segal in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
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