37 years after an Israeli soldier went missing in action following a battle in Lebanon, the IDF has managed to return his body to Israel for burial.

Sergeant Zechariah (Zachary) Baumel was one of three Israeli soldiers captured by Syrian armed forces during a battle at Sultan Yacoub in 1982, six days into the First Lebanon War.

Numerous attempts were made over the years to ascertain both his condition and those of the two other soldiers captured in the battle, Tzvi Feldman and Yehudah Katz. Later, efforts would concentrate on recovering their bodies.

On Wednesday, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus of the IDF Spokespersons Unit confirmed that Sergeant Baumel’s Body had been returned to Israel, in an operation labelled “Bittersweet Song.”

Lt Col Conricus said that the remains had been returned to Israel on an El Al plane earlier this week, via a third country. They had been taken to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, where they had been identified as Sergeant Baumel’s. Subsequently, “Major General Moti Almoz, head of the IDF Human Resources Directorate, informed the family”.

In a live broadcast statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the return of Sergeant Baumel’s body as “one of the most moving things to have happened in all my years as Prime Minister.

“After many years, the body of Sergeant Zechariah Baumel, of blessed memory, has been recovered.”

He said that in the 37 years Sergeant Baumel had been missing the State of Israel had never wavered in its efforts to discover his whereabouts, and that of his fellow soldiers, Tzvi Feldman and Yehudah Katz.

“The operation, returning him to Israel, is an expression of the moral duty that defines us, both our military and our country.”

Benny Gantz, the former IDF Chief of Staff, also described the return of Sergeant Baumel’s body as part of “a moral obligation for the State of Israel.

“We will continue our efforts to return all our missing soldiers home.”