Ron Arad (born May 5, 1958) is an Israeli MIA currently missing. It is not known whether he is still alive, though some believe he is being held by Iran or Iranian backed groups in Lebanon.
Arad was a F-4 Phantom navigator when he and his co-pilot were forced to eject from their damaged aircraft. While his co-pilot was rescued, he was captured by the Lebanese Shiite militia AMAL on October 16, 1986.
In 1987, letters from Arad were received. The Israeli government negotiated for his released, but talks failed in 1988. There are inconclusive indications that Arad was then "sold" to Iran. After this time, credible information about Arad has been hard to discover, though unsubstantiated claims of new information are made regularly.
In an effort to bring about his release Israel has taken captive Sheik Abdul-Karim Obeid , a member of the Lebanese Hezbollah in 1989 and Mustafa Dirani in 1994. The Israeli government claimed they were being held in order to find out information about Arad. Both were released in 2004 as part of a POW swap for Elchanan Tenenbaum.
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