The IDF, led by Aman (Military Intelligence Directorate) and the Mossad (Intelligence and Special Operations Directorate), has returned the remains of Sergeant First Class Yehuda Yekutiel Katz, may he rest in peace, to Israel and his family. He was an Armored Corps fighter who fell in the Battle of Sultan Yacob on the 20th of Sivan 5742, June 11, 1982, during the First Lebanon War, and was considered missing until today.
In an operation led by Aman and through a joint community effort with the Mossad, Yehuda’s remains were located and brought to Israel. After their arrival, a identification process was conducted at the Rabbinate’s Center for Identification of Fallen Soldiers, in cooperation with the Medical Corps and the Israel Police.
Yehuda Katz’s family has been updated over the years regarding the ongoing efforts to locate and return him to Israel. Upon completion of the mission, the family was notified of the return of their beloved. Sadly, Yehuda’s parents, Sarah and Yosef Katz, did not live to receive the news.
His return to Israel was made possible through efforts based on precise intelligence, as part of a series of intelligence and operational activities that have continued for over four decades since his fall in battle.
Over the years, the Prime Minister’s Office’s Missing Persons Unit coordinators, operational units in the Mossad and Aman, alongside the Shin Bet and the IDF Manpower Directorate, have worked shoulder to shoulder.
This marks the closing of a circle, joining previous operations in which Sergeant First Class Zachary Baumel, may he rest in peace, was returned to Israel in 2019 and Sergeant First Class Tzvi Feldman, may he rest in peace, in 2025, thus completing the mission of returning all the missing from the Battle of Sultan Yacob.
The completion of the mission was made possible thanks to research and intelligence gathering efforts that continued over the years.
The IDF and the Mossad share in the family’s sorrow and continue to work on all efforts to return all missing persons.
The Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi, said: “The return of Yehuda Katz, the last fallen soldier from the Battle of Sultan Yacob, is a significant moment for the IDF and for the State of Israel. Decades have passed, but our obligation to our fallen has not changed – we will not leave any of our people behind. Today we return Yehuda to a burial in Israel, to his family, and to our land, and close a painful chapter that began more than four decades ago. The memory of the fighters who fell at Sultan Yacob will forever remain part of the IDF’s heritage and our commitment to future generations.”
