By Jeff Lipton
Some information has recently come to light to suggest that Baumel, who was originally believed to be dead, may actually be alive, and Five Towners who know him are moving full speed ahead in hopes of finding him, pushing U.S. officials for help in locating him.
Eli Fruchter of Woodmere, a close friend of Baumel, Fruchter's brother-law, Dr. Asher Mansdorf, also of Woodmere, and Izzy Wasser of Cedarhurst, as well as local elected officials, went to Washington, D.C. last month to meet with Congressional leaders, in an attempt to persuade them to reopen the case of the missing Israeli soldier.
On Sunday, Rabbi Kenneth Hain, spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Sholom in Lawrence, invited U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-New York) to the shul's library in a gathering of about 30 local religious and political leaders to discuss ways they could revive the case. Other topics were also discussed in the meeting, to which the press was not invited.
"I think the meeting went well," said Dr. Stuart Ditchek, founder of the Committee for the Release of Zachary Baumel. "Sen. Clinton has really been a great friend to the Baumel family. I think that she feels for the family from a maternalistic standpoint."
As a powerful Democrat, he said, Clinton will be able to pressure the White House and the State Department to force the Syrians to move on this issue.
He said dealing with the Syrians is very difficult because they are known to change their minds, but he feels the Syrians are ready to negotiate for his release, providing Baumel is indeed alive, since they clamor for U.S. support now.
The meeting was a successful one, according to Mansdorf, who was among those who attended. "There's always hope," he said.
"I think she's overwhelmingly supportive," Mansdorf said of Clinton. "If there were more people out there like her, we would be making some more progress."
Mansdorf also praised Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) for her part in trying to uncover more about the case. "She's been very supportive as well. These two women, perhaps because they are mothers, have been extraordinarily supportive," Mansdorf said of Clinton and McCarthy.
Baumel, who would now be in his 40s, moved from the U.S. to Israel in 1970 and joined the Israeli army in 1979. He has been missing since June 1982 when he was engaged in a tank battle with Syrian forces on the Lebanon-Syria border. He was serving his last 10 days of army duty when he was captured. Since then, Baumel's father, Yona, and his mother, Miriam, have not rested, with the search for their son consuming their lives. Although many have given up hope that he is alive, his parents have not. They have met with leaders throughout the world in their quest to find out more about their son's disappearance.
"This is an important issue in the Jewish community," Ditchek said. "It's an important issue in the American community. He's one of us."
The missing soldier's family is now urging people to write letters and send e-mails to government officials, urging them to seek information on the case. Baumel's father also recently addressed the congregation at Young Israel of Woodmere on Peninsula Boulevard, spelling out his anguish of not being able to see his son for nearly a quarter-century.
Yona Baumel, who immigrated to Israel from New York, recently told Israel TV that he believes his son might still be alive. His hope was renewed after receiving part of a book through a circuitous route from Syria that contained dots under letters that spelled out "Zachary," in addition to four extra letters that he said were a family joke only his son and daughter would know. The book was handed over to Israeli police, who did not find Baumel's fingerprints on the book, but determined that there appeared to be emphasized words that could indicate messages like "hope," "help" and "faith."
McCarthy said she would petition the U.S. State Department and the Bush Administration to pressure the Syrian government to reveal the whereabouts of Baumel, since he is now believed to be alive and in captivity. McCarthy met with Baumel's father in Cedarhurst last month to discuss what more she could do.
On Sept. 18, Yona Baumel wrote a letter to Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, who also went to Washington, along with Legislator Jeff Toback (D-Oceanside), urging Suozzi to press U.S. leaders such as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to demand answers from Syria.
"Secretary of State Rice has the ability to bring this to fruition, but not without the encouragement of people like you, who have a history of championing difficult causes," Baumel wrote in his letter to Suozzi. "Miriam and I are aging, and are reaching out to you in these most desperate of times."
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