Israeli Intel Concludes Missing Airman Ron Arad Died in Captivity in 1988

Israeli air force navigator Ron Arad is seen in this undated handout picture released by I
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The Times of Israel reports: Israel’s security community has come to the conclusion that Air Force navigator Ron Arad, who disappeared 30 years ago when he ejected from his stricken plane over Lebanon, died within two years of vanishing, Channel 2 said Monday.

A joint report by the Mossad spy agency and the Israel Defense Forces’s Directorate of Military Intelligence, which includes new information obtained over the past two years, says Arad likely died by 1988, earlier than was previously believed, the TV report said.

The navigator disappeared after he and pilot Yishai Aviram bailed out of their plane over southern Lebanon.

Aviram was rescued shortly afterwards, but Arad was never found. Israel believes he was captured by the Shiite Amal movement before being handed over to Iran, and moved from Lebanon to Iran and then back again.

Israel declared the airman dead in 2008.

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