IDF Soldier Yehuda Katz, Missing Since 1982 Lebanon War, Laid to Rest After 44 Years

Yehuda Katz, the last missing soldier from the Sultan Yaakov battle during the First Lebanon War, was finally laid to rest after 44 years. His funeral procession departed from the Kerem B'Yavneh Hesder Yeshiva, where he had studied, and proceeded to the Mount of Olives cemetery in Jerusalem. Hundreds attended the ceremony to honor Katz's memory. Rabbi Mordechai Greenberg, head of the yeshiva and one of Katz's teachers, eulogized him, addressing a misconception about yeshiva students in the military. He said, "Some think yeshiva students deteriorate in the army, but with Yehuda it was the opposite. He wrote for himself special spiritual commitments to uphold during his service." Katz's body was returned to his community after more than four decades, bringing closure to his family and comrades.