Elchanan Tenenbaum

From Free net encyclopedia

Elhanan Tanenboym, (אלחנן טננבוים, born 12 August 1946) is a retired colonel in the Israel Defense Force. Tanenboym's capture was announced on 16 October 2000 by the Lebanese militant group Hizbullah after being lured out of Israel under the false pretenses of a drug deal.

He was captured in Kuwait and taken to Lebanon. His abduction is believed to have been conducted by Imad Mugniyah, a senior member of Hizbullah.

Tanenboym was released in 2004 as part of POW swap with Hizbullah. The swap, mediated by Germany, resulted in the exchange of 435 prisoners held by Israel in return for Tanenboym's release and the return of the bodies of three soldiers killed during an ambush along the Israeli-Lebanese border. Following his release, Tanenboym was placed under arrest for his illegal actions that led up to his capture. He admitted to the reasons behind his travel to Kuwait and described the details of his capture.

Among the 435 people released were Mustafa Dirani and Sheik Abdul-Karim Obeid. These two individuals were captured, in 1994 and 1989 respectively, for use as bargaining chips in the effort to secure the release of the most famous of the Israeli MIAs, Ron Arad. Fearing the release of these men would end any hope of finding Arad, his family attempted to take legal action to prevent their release. Nothing came of this effort.

ICMIS Biography on Tanenboym http://www.mia.org.il/tannenbaum.html
ICMIS collection of media articles on him and other missing Israeli soldiers. http://www.mia.org.il/archive.htmlhe:אלחנן טננבוים