i24NEWSSecurity13:52

NYT Report: Israel Kidnapped Iranian Generals in Ron Arad Search

By i24NEWS, גיא פלק

Translated & summarized from i24NEWS by baba

CenterNeutral tone

Hebrew · 4 newsrooms covering

A New York Times investigation reveals Israel kidnapped two Iranian generals in its 40-year search for information on missing airman Ron Arad. General Ali Reza Asgari was captured in 2006, interrogated, killed, and his body was dumped at sea. General Abdullah Sabri was abducted in Damascus in 2021 and taken to Israel for questioning. These covert operations underscore Israel's persistent efforts to locate Arad, who disappeared four decades ago.

The story in 6 lines · by baba

Israel kidnapped two Iranian generals in its 40-year search for missing airman Ron Arad.
General Ali Reza Asgari was captured in 2006, interrogated, killed, and his body was disposed of at sea.
General Abdullah Sabri was abducted in Damascus in September 2021 and secretly transferred to Israel.
Israeli agents posed as furniture movers to kidnap Sabri during his morning run.
Ron Arad is the only Israeli soldier officially listed as missing in action.
The New York Times published the investigative report based on Middle Eastern sources.

A New York Times investigation has revealed new details about Israel's 40-year effort to locate information on missing airman Ron Arad, including the covert kidnappings of two Iranian generals. The report, citing numerous Middle Eastern sources including Iranian officials and a Syrian who witnessed a kidnapping, states that Israel abducted Ali Reza Asgari in Istanbul in 2006. Asgari, an Iranian general, was interrogated by the Mossad for weeks, subsequently killed, and his body was disposed of at sea.

A second Iranian general, Abdullah Sabri, was kidnapped in September 2021 in Damascus, Syria, near his country's embassy. He was secretly transferred to Israel for interrogation. Israeli intelligence operatives reportedly posed as furniture movers to ambush Sabri during his morning run in a diplomatic neighborhood. They allegedly drugged him, placed him in a white van, and escaped without raising suspicion.

These operations were reportedly driven by Israel's determination to obtain information about Ron Arad, an aircrew member who disappeared approximately four decades ago and is considered by the IDF to be the only Israeli soldier missing in action.