The news on Sunday that the Mossad and the IDF had recovered the remains of Sgt.-Maj. Tzvi (Tzvika) Feldman, who went missing in the First Lebanon War’s Sultan Yacoub battle in 1982, was another example of the prowess of Israel’s intelligence gathering and its dedication to bringing its soldiers home.
Feldman, a tank soldier, went missing during the battle along with Sgt.-Maj. Yehuda Katz and Sgt.-Maj. Zachary Baumel.
Baumel’s remains were recovered and returned to Israel in 2019. Katz’s body has not been recovered. In that battle with the Syrian Army in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, 21 IDF soldiers were killed and 30 more were wounded.
Feldman’s body was recovered from “the heart of Syria” in a special “complex and covert operation” that took place over decades, according to a joint Mossad-IDF announcement.
Last year’s upheaval in Syria and Israel’s presence in the country since then allowed the operation to intensify and reach its culmination.
“Though his parents, Pnina and Avraham, sadly passed away, we now return Tzvika to his siblings – Itzik, Shlomo, and Anat – and to the soil of the Land of Israel that he so loved,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.
A noble campaign that cannot be seen outside of the current context
This was a noble campaign, but it cannot be seen outside of the context of today’s reality, with 59 Israelis being held – alive and dead – in Gaza.
As the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said on Sunday, Feldman’s return is a reminder that Israel cannot afford to wait 40 years to close the circle with the hostages in Gaza.
“A grave is not a privilege, but a basic duty of the state to its citizens and fighters. In Israel, no one is left behind,” it said.
President Isaac Herzog wrote on X/Twitter that “the mission to return our captives and missing, both living and fallen, must always remain our top priority.”
התרגשות עצומה עם השבת גופתו של לוחם השריון, רס״ל צבי פלדמן ז״ל – וסגירת המעגל לאחר למעלה מארבעה עשורים.שוחחתי הבוקר עם בני משפחת פלדמן והם שיתפו אותי ברגעי ההתרגשות, ההקלה והכאב, אחרי שנים ארוכות של צער וחוסר וודאות.צבי הוגדר כנעדר מאז נפילתו בקרב בסולטן יעקב ביוני 1982,…
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) May 11, 2025
Locating the remains of a missing Israeli some 40 years later in an enemy country and returning him home for interment is an impressive achievement and a prime example of the '‘leave no one behind” ethos that has guided the military and the national moral compass since Israel’s inception.
Returning the 59 hostages and saving the ones who are still alive would be more than an achievement… It is an imperative that cannot wait another 40 years.