JERUSALEM (JTA) — The father of missing Israeli soldier Zachary Baumel has died without knowing the fate of his son.
Yona Baumel died Saturday at the age of 81 after being treated in Shaare Zedek hospital for heart disease for the last three weeks.
The family made aliyah from Brooklyn in 1970.
Zachary Baumel disappeared during the battle for Sultan Yacoub on June 10, 1982, at the beginning of the Lebanon War. Yona Baumel met with numerous world leaders and interviewed hundreds of witnesses during his search for information about his son and the two soldiers who disappeared with him, according to reports.
He is survived by his wife Miriam, three children and grandchildren.
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