The Dramatic Decision that Led to the Announcement of the Murders

At the end of last week, a number of missing persons and abductees from the residents of the Gaza Strip envelope kibbutzim were declared murdered and now the reason for this is being published - a dramatic discussion that took place by the Sephardic Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef.

The discussion was attended by: the chief military rabbi, representatives of the security system, the health system, the director general of the Ministry of Religious Services, Yehuda Avidan, and the judge of the High Religious Court, Rabbi Ido Shahar.

During the discussion, the rabbis were convinced by the data that was spread before them and the opinions of the health system personnel and decided at the end of the discussion that it is indeed possible to declare the six abductees martyrs and also free their wives from the status of 'agunah'.

The names of the abductees that were subsequently announced are: Aryeh Zalmanovitz, Maya Goren, Ronen Engel, Eliyahu Churchill Margalit, Guy Iloz and Ofra Keidar. A message was given to the families.