THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME
OCTOBER 7, 2021
22
The Week In News
cation.” Milhoffer added that an arrest warrant had been issued and that Furchner was eventually detained. A doctor was assessing whether her health allowed her to be imprisoned for the remainder of the trial. Furchner’s next hearing is scheduled for October 19.
Searching for Ron Arad Israeli pilot Ron Arad has been missing in action since 1986, last thought to be custody of Lebanese terror groups. In an effort to find his body, the Mossad intelligence agency had examined a corpse in a northern Lebanese village last month, extracting DNA to test if it was Arad’s remains. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett an-
nounced on Monday that the Mossad had recently embarked on wide-ranging efforts in search of information about Arad. Saudi news outlet Al-Arabiya reported that the Mossad had also abducted an Iranian general from Syria to interrogate him about Arad’s fate. That was first reported earlier on Tuesday by the London-based Rai al-Youm paper. Mossad agents took the Iranian general from Syria to an unnamed African country, interrogated him there, and eventually released him, the paper said. Speaking at the opening of the winter Knesset session on Monday, Bennett revealed that Mossad agents recently went on a mission to uncover the whereabouts of Arad. He was last heard from in 1988, two years after he was captured. Initial accounts in several Hebrew media outlets late Monday portrayed the operation as entirely unsuccessful, and accused Bennett of revealing its existence for political reasons. Channel 12 news cited Mossad chief David Barnea as calling the operation courageous, daring, and
complex but nonetheless a “failure,” in an internal meeting. But on Tuesday, the same TV channel reported that Barnea actually asked for Bennett to reveal the operation and that “the praise and recognition for the Mossad sacrificing to return Arad and other captives and MIAs was important for members of the organization along with the praise for soldiers.” The network also said that Barnea sent a letter to the organization’s staff portraying the operation as a major success. Yediot Ahronoth quoted an unnamed “senior intelligence source” claiming that “the Mossad achieved its mission,” and Israel Hayom quoted a senior intelligence source calling it “one of the most important and successful operations to bring quality information about Arad.” Arad bailed out of his plane during an operation in southern Lebanon in 1986. Israel believes he was captured by the Shiite Amal movement before being handed over to Iran and moved from Lebanon to Iran and then back again. Several signs of life were received in the first two years of his
A Healing Laugh B A LT I M O R E
B A LT I M O R E
B A LT I M O R E J E W I S H H O M E . C O M
Using Humor to Cope with Stress
incarceration, including photos and letters, the last of which was sent on May 5, 1988. Arad has long been assumed to have died many years ago, although intelligence reports have differed as to the circumstances, timing, and location of his death. In 2016, a report indicated that Arad was killed and buried in 1988 near Beirut. But a 2004 IDF commission determined Arad had died in the 1990s after being denied medical treatment.
Iran’s Failed Assassination Attempt?
Over the past few days, reports have emerged of an attempted attack
