ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the family of Sgt. First Class Yehuda Yekutiel Katz on Wednesday to offer his condolences following his burial last week, the Prime Minister's Office announced.

Netanyahu told the family that he was "deeply moved" by the return of Katz's remains to Israel, and expressed his sorrow over the fact that Katz's parents passed away before the return.

The family told Netanyahu about Katz's character, describing him as a "a Torah scholar, a man of values, and a professional and devoted fighter," the PMO said.

Last week, the IDF recovered the remains of Katz in an operation in Lebanon, 44 years after he went missing during the First Lebanon War, in the Battle of Sultan Yacoub on June 11, 1982.

Two other soldiers were also declared missing in the same instance, their bodies recovered in 2019 and 2025.

Family members and mourners attend the funeral of IDF soldier Yekutiel Yehuda Katz at the Mount of Olives cemetery in Jerusalem, August 21, 2026.
Family members and mourners attend the funeral of IDF soldier Yekutiel Yehuda Katz at the Mount of Olives cemetery in Jerusalem, August 21, 2026. (credit: CHAIM GOLDBERG/FLASH90)

All of Israel embraces Katz family, Netanyahu says upon body's return

“In an operation led by the Military Intelligence and a joint community effort with the Mossad, the remains of Yehuda were located and brought to Israel,” the IDF said last week.

“After they were brought to Israel, an identification process was conducted at the Military Rabbinate’s Center for the Identification of Fallen, in cooperation with the Medical Corps and the Israel Police.”

“Today, all of us, the entire people of Israel, embrace the Katz family,” said Netanyahu upon the return of his body.

“His dear parents, Sarah and Yosef, of blessed memory, never stopped working to locate him and bring him home, and sadly, they have already passed away. To you, his siblings Avi and Perachia, we return your beloved Yehuda, to you and to the soil of the Land of Israel that he loved so much.”

Former deputy defense minister Major (res.) Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, who fought alongside Katz in the Battle of Sultan Yacoub, said he felt “chills” upon hearing the announcement of the discovery.

“The circle of the great effort to save the armored battalion that was caught in a Syrian ambush has closed. No one is left behind,” Ben-Dahan said.

“The eternal people are not afraid of a long road.”

Katz was buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem on Friday, in a ceremony attended by Mossad chief Roman Gofman among others.

Miriam Sela-Eitam and Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.