JERUSALEM – The father of an American-born Israeli soldier who was captured by Syrian forces 23 years ago and has been petitioning for his son's release ever since is filing a lawsuit against the Syrian government for abduction and illegal imprisonment, WND has learned.
Zachary Baumel |
The lawsuit follows the release of new information indicating Zachary Baumel, captured in Lebanon in 1982, is being held in Syria, and comes after several failed attempts by Baumel's father, Yona, to appeal directly to Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Baumel, a dual American-Israeli citizen, was taken along with two Israeli members of his tank crew, Yehuda Katz and Tzvi Feldman, during Israel's foray in the Lebanon War. All three were photographed in Damascus on the day of their capture, and several eyewitnesses, including a Time reporter, said they watched a parade in which the tank and crew were led through a major street in Damascus and flaunted to cheering crowds.
The ceremony was the last time the soldiers were seen publicly.
In March, Baumel told WND sources he had cultivated in Syria told him they visited his son this year at a Syrian military installation just north of the border with Iraq. Baumel was also given a book from a confidante of a family in Syria that has coded messages he says could have been written only by his son.
Baumel previously showed WND pages from the book, a 1999 novel titled "The Map of Love." The lettering has been stained after extensive Israeli forensics testing, but a series of marks are visible under the letters "BAZMUTACUMKCEL" – ZACK BAUMEL MTUC.
The MTUC, Yona explained, came from an old family joke that outsiders would not be in a position to know.
Part of Zachary Baumel's dog tag. |
"It had to have been written by Zack," said Baumel. "It refers to an old joke he was told from a long time ago when his mother, whose maiden name was Miriam Turetsky or MT, was a kid. The other children would point at her head and say 'it's empty you see,' or MTUC."
As well, phrases throughout the book were underlined or circled, including "A child forsaken," "I have hope" and "help me."
Baumel said the new evidence had given him renewed hope and a sense of urgency in his campaign to find his son.
He and Stuart Ditchek, Zachary's childhood friend and the founder of the Committee for the Release of Zachary Baumel, attempted several times to petition the Syrian government to release Zachary or to set up a personal meeting with Assad. Their efforts were ultimately rebuffed.
Baumel and Ditchek also tried to involve the Israeli government in their campaign. The duo met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon last September and were promised a letter stating Sharon supports their efforts to press for Zachary's release, but the letter has not yet been written.
Sources close to Sharon told WND the prime minister is reluctant to get involved.
"Bashar Assad is on his way out. Israel doesn't want to give him the ability to make a gesture. And Sharon thinks if Assad offers to release Zach Baumel, Israel will be asked by the U.S. to make a similar gesture toward Assad," said a political source.
Countered Ditchek: "The U.S. has made very clear they do not want to do anything that would help Syria. So Sharon's excuse doesn't make sense to me. Israel would not be pressured into anything. Releasing Zachary would be a one-way humanitarian gesture on the part of Syria."
Now, Yona Baumel and Ditchek are preparing a lawsuit to be filed next week in Washington, D.C., district court against the Syrian government and its officers for the abduction and illegal imprisonment of Zachary.
The suit utilizes the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which contains a provision that allows U.S. citizens to sue governments supporting terrorism and collect judgments from any foreign governmental assets on American soil. Syria publicly hosts the leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and has been accused of supporting Palestinian terrorism and allowing insurgents to cross from its border into Iraq to commit acts of terror. The Immunities Act has previously been successfully used to prosecute the Palestinian Authority and Iran.
"After many years of efforts to resolve this tragic case, it is a sad time for the Baumel family to have to resort to legal action against President Assad and the government of Syria," said Ditchek. "I am hopeful Assad will be cognizant of fact that this lawsuit is not limited to just the civil arena, but will result in criminal action against him and his government should they not resolve the issue of Zachary Baumel. We will ensure that Zack's case will follow him whether as a private citizen or the president of Syria."
Zachary Baumel was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and attended yeshiva until his family immigrated to Israel in 1970, where he graduated high school and enlisted in the Israeli army. Baumel nearly finished his military service when he was called up to serve in the Lebanon War. Just hours before the declaration of a cease-fire, Zachary was sent into battle near the Lebanese village of Sultan Yaqub and subsequently captured. That day, 21 Israelis were killed and many more were injured.
Several weeks after Baumel was captured, Syrian officials said they buried four bodies in a Jewish cemetery. Baumel was thought to have been among the dead. But a year later, the Red Cross exhumed the graves and found the bodies were that of three Arabs and one Israeli missing from the same battle.
Syrian officials since have given conflicting reports to the media, including statements claiming Baumel and his three Israeli crewmen still were alive.
Prior to the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, PLO leader Yasser Arafat presented Israel with half of Baumel's dog tag and claimed he had information on the missing soldier's whereabouts. Arafat later refused to release further details.
"The new information we have been given [indicating Zachary is being held in Syria] is very compelling that Zachary is alive," said Ditchek. "We will get this resolved one way or another."
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