IDF Chief Rabbi Brigadier-General Avi Ronsky is examining the information gathered in the case pertaining to IDF soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, including intelligence reports.

The information is intended to assist him in arriving at a decision whether or not to declare them “soldiers who fell in the line of duty whose burial location is unknown”. He is expected to consult with Gedolei HaDor towards arriving at his decision.

Some five years ago, then IDF Chief Rabbi Brigadier-General Yisrael Weiss made such a move regarding three soldiers who were abducted by Hizbullah in 2000. Their bodies were eventually returned in the Elchanan Tannenbaum prisoner exchange deal.

Family members of the soldiers on Tuesday mingled in Knesset, lobbying lawmakers against supporting any attempt to declare their son’s dead, fearing such a move would torpedo an exchange deal.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)