In an urgent meeting: The civilian committee for determining the deaths of civilians in Hamas captivity convened on Friday at the home of Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, where the decision was made to determine the death of the abducted Inbar Heiman. Israel Hayom has learned that the Health Ministry is constantly discussing testimonies and findings. When these mature into a recommendation, the committee convenes for discussion and determination.
Members of the Military Rabbinate, intelligence officials, members of the Abductees Command headed by Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon and a special team of the Ministry of Religious Affairs headed by Rabbi Yosef are involved in the work. All of them meet frequently to discuss new information brought before them. This information led, among other things, to the determination that the commander of the Southern Brigade, Col. Assaf Hamami, z"l, was a kidnapped martyr by a terrorist organization.
These are actually two teams, military and civilian: one headed by the Chief Military Rabbi Brigadier General Eyal Krim and the other established by the Director General of the Ministry of Religious Affairs Yehuda Avidan, and headed by the Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef. The new information is channeled to both teams through intelligence officials and military personnel who have the information. In addition, abductees who were released provided information that led to the cross-referencing of much information already in Israel's possession.
"We must have an Israeli outline": Declaration of the families of the abductees // Photo: Moshe Ben-Simhon
The information received at Nitzan Alon headquarters for the treatment of missing persons has been collected over the past few weeks, but only once sufficient and reliable information is received presented to the Chief Rabbi can death be declared. A source familiar with the matter told Israel Hayom that the abductees who were released provided information about great "mobility" while in captivity, which enabled the accumulation of information presented to intelligence officials upon their return to Israel.
In the civilian team, this is a more complex work, since its members were required to sign a prohibition on the transfer of information. This is because the materials presented to them were classified as classified. This is actually a rather chilling continuation of Rabbi Yosef's work, after his father, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, similarly pronounced death in the Yom Kippur War for many casualties. The person who established the team was the Director General of the Ministry of Religious Affairs Avidan, whose ministry is responsible for the burial. Under Rabbi Yosef, the Great Court Dayan, Rabbi Ido Shachar, along with Brigadier General Krim, are also on the staff.
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