Yaron Blum, special negotiator for hostages and prisoners of war at the Prime Minister's Office and a former senior Shin Bet security agency official, said it was "a great privilege" to be involved in the efforts to return the remains of Staff Sgt. Zachary Baumel to Israel, 37 years after he was killed in Battle of Sultan Yacoub in the 1982 Lebanon War.
According to Blum, it was thanks to precise intelligence and Russia's assistance that the State of Israel was able to bring Baumel's remains to Israel for burial.
In an interview with Israel Hayom, Blum emphasized that the successful recovery of Baumel's remains decades after his death was proof that "it's never too late. Meaning, the time aspect is of significance, but we do not abandon these issues, even if many years have passed. Second, we work tirelessly to take care of all of the missing, including the two other soldiers that went missing during the Battle of Sultan Yacoub in Lebanon, Yehuda Katz and Zvi Feldman, as with the other missing [soldiers] Ron Arad, Guy Hever and our captives and our prisoners in the Gaza Strip, [fallen IDF soldiers] Hadar Goldin and Oron Sharul, Ethiopian Israeli Avera Mengistu and Bedouin Israeli Hisham al-Sayed.
Blum rejected criticism over the timing of the move.
To say it is "because of the elections – that is just nonsense. The outcome stems from the effort that started at the diplomatic-political level, led by the prime minister and with his involvement. It also demonstrated to everyone that the prime minister finds a lot of time to deal with this issue."
He said that "over the years, we perfected the intelligence, until we succeeded in pointing, according to the coordinates, [to the spot] where according to assessments, the remains were located."
According to Blum, this "would not have happened without the prime minister's special relationship with [Russian President Vladmir] Putin. No less important is everyone's success in putting their ego aside and working together to get results."
Asked how he had reacted to the news Baumel's remains had been located, Blum said, "Wow, it was very emotional. It's [a sense of] joy and emotion that people who acted tirelessly - intelligence officials, the Military Intelligence's POW and MIA department – succeeded, and of course joy over the heroic performance of the Russian partner that brought about this result. Their fighters worked under fire part of the time."
Noted that Israel had been many previous attempts to locate Baumel's remain over the years, Blum said, "It is important that the people of Israel understand that the people who are dealing with it [the issue] are committed to bringing all the boys home. It's not a cliché and not a statement that has something to do with the elections. This is a tremendous commitment; we must act tirelessly to bring the captives and the missing home."
