Family of fallen soldier goes to court to get answers

The family of a soldier believed killed in the 2014 Gaza war whose body is being held by Hamas petitioned the High Court to get information about why the army declared him dead.

Oron Shaul’s family filed the petition on Monday against IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, the army’s head of personnel and the chief military rabbi, requesting they release the protocol of the discussions used to determine Oron’s death.

The petition comes some two months after the family requested the information from the army and was denied.

According to the petition, the army’s refusal to reveal the protocol indicates that he was only declared dead after pressure was put on the military authority charged with determining the death of soldiers.

Speaking in January during a ceremony to commemorate the 23rd birthday of her son, Zehava Shaul said that five days after her son disappeared in Gaza, then-chief military rabbi Rafi Peretz arrived at her family’s home just one hour before Shabbat — the Jewish day of rest, during which Orthodox Jews refrain from work or use of cars and electronics — to inform the family of his death.

She said, “We requested explanations, but the answer [we received] was that the rabbi had to return home before the start of Shabbat.”

She added, “We have been waiting for answers ever since.”

Shaul also accused Peretz of having “hastened to declare Oron’s death in contrast to all accepted practices and Jewish law,” saying that it was unknown if he was still alive when Hamas took him.

Oron was in an armored personnel carrier that was hit by an anti-tank missile. Six other soldiers were killed in the incident.

In that speech his mother also implored Eisenkot to secure the return of her son.

Her husband, Herzl Shaul, died of cancer in September 2016

Since Oron Shaul’s body was captured by Hamas in July 2014, his family has waged a public campaign for the return of his remains, including by setting up protest tents outside of the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Eisenkot have vowed to do everything in their power to return Shaul’s body to his family, with Netanyahu saying at the funeral of his father that “our commitment is to bring Oron home.”

The body of IDF soldier Hadar Goldin, who was also declared dead in the 2014 conflict in the Gaza Strip, is also being held by Hamas.