Staff Sergeant Yehuda Katz, a fighter from the 1982 Battle of Sultan Yacoub, was laid to rest today after 44 years. Reserve Major General Uzi Dayan, who led the Israeli delegation in negotiations with Syria, spoke at the funeral, recalling that Syria refused to discuss returning Katz's remains, and called on Syria to return the body of spy Eli Cohen.
Staff Sergeant Yehuda Katz was laid to rest on Friday morning, 44 years after he fell during the Battle of Sultan Yacoub in the First Lebanon War. Thousands gathered for the funeral, which began with a procession from Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh to the Mount of Olives cemetery. The ceremony closed one of Israel's longest-running missing-in-action cases.
Reserve Major General Uzi Dayan, who led the Israeli delegation in negotiations with Syria over the return of missing soldiers, spoke at the funeral. Dayan recounted that the Syrians were unwilling to discuss returning Katz's remains during the talks. He also called on Syria to return the body of Eli Cohen, the Israeli spy executed in Damascus in 1965, whose remains have never been returned.
The recovery of Katz's remains was announced by the IDF and Mossad on Tuesday, August 18, as The Zioneer reported. The operation, led by the Intelligence Directorate and Mossad, ended a 44-year national mission to account for all missing personnel from the battle. Katz was the last of three soldiers from a single tank crew to be recovered; Zvi Feldman was returned in 2025, and Zacharia Baumel in 2019.
While Katz's return closes the Sultan Yacoub chapter, the case of Eli Cohen remains unresolved. Dayan's call at the funeral underscored the ongoing Israeli demand for Syria to return Cohen's remains.
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