Remains of Fallen Israeli Soldier Yehuda Katz Returned After 44 Years

The remains of Staff Sergeant Yehuda Katz, who fell in the 1982 Battle of Sultan Yaakov, were recovered and returned to Israel for burial this week, ending a 44-year mystery surrounding missing soldiers from the battle. Katz's remains were found in a joint operation and brought back after decades of uncertainty.

A poignant 1988 video shows Yehuda Katz's father, Yosef Katz, a Holocaust survivor who rebuilt his life in Israel, visiting the Lubavitcher Rebbe in Crown Heights. Yosef brought living water from the Ari Zal mikveh and pleaded with the Rebbe to bless his missing son’s return, referring to the biblical seventh year of release. The Rebbe blessed Katz and gave Yosef a dollar to give to his son upon his return, expressing hope for good news and a "good inscription and sealing."

Yehuda Katz’s parents passed away without learning their son's fate; his mother Sarah died in 2011 and his father Yosef in 2014. The recent recovery of Katz’s remains has finally closed this painful chapter for the family and the nation.