The funeral procession of Yehuda Katz, the last missing soldier from the 1982 Battle of Sultan Yacoub, departed from Yeshivat Kerem b'Yavne earlier today, according to Ariel Kahana (Israel Hayom). The yeshiva's head recounted a story highlighting Katz's devotion, and Chief Rabbi Kalman Bar, a former study partner, attended.
The funeral procession of Yehuda Katz, the last missing soldier from the 1982 Battle of Sultan Yacoub, departed from Yeshivat Kerem b'Yavne earlier today, as reported by Ariel Kahana (Israel Hayom). Chief Rabbi Kalman Bar, a former study partner of Katz at the yeshiva, attended the procession. Rabbi Baruch Wieder, head of Yeshivat Hakotel and a fellow soldier in the battle, recalled that before boarding the bus to war, Katz insisted on entering the study hall, saying, "You don't go to war from the bathroom; you go to war from the study hall."
The burial ends a 44-year wait that began when Katz went missing on June 11, 1982, during a fierce engagement with Syrian forces in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. As The Zioneer reported on Tuesday, August 18 (08:18 Jerusalem time), the IDF confirmed the return and formal identification of Katz's remains—the last of three soldiers missing from the battle. That day, Rabbi Baruch Wieder, who had prayed for the missing every Shabbat for 44 years, described his emotional shock at the news. Later on Tuesday, the funeral was set for Friday on the Mount of Olives, with thousands attending the morning service, as reported by Channel 12.
The recovery was the culmination of a multi-year operation led by the IDF Intelligence Directorate and the Mossad, as The Zioneer detailed in its background coverage. At the funeral, Reserve Major General Uzi Dayan, who led the Israeli delegation in negotiations with Syria, said Syria had refused to discuss returning Katz's remains and called on Damascus to also return the body of spy Eli Cohen. The closing of the Sultan Yacoub chapter underscores the IDF's commitment to bring every soldier home, even decades later.
No further missing soldiers remain from that battle. The nation now bids farewell to Yehuda Katz, laid to rest on the Mount of Olives.
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