Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "In a special operation by the IDF and the Mossad, we brought home the remains of Armored Corps fighter, Sgt. First Class Yehuda Yekutiel Katz, of blessed memory, who fell in battle at Sultan Yacoub in June 1982 during the First Lebanon War. About seven years ago, we returned Sgt. First Class Zachary Baumel, of blessed memory, to burial in Israel. In May 2025 we returned Sgt. First Class Zvi Feldman, of blessed memory. And not for a moment did we cease the work to return Sgt. First Class Yehuda Katz, of blessed memory, who was missing from the same battle. Throughout the years, I authorized numerous covert operations to locate the missing of Sultan Yacoub. I promised their families that we would never cease working to return them home. Today all of us, the entire nation of Israel, embrace the Katz family. The dear parents, Sarah and Yosef, of blessed memory, had worked incessantly to locate and return him, and to our sorrow have already passed away. We are returning dear Yehuda to you, the siblings, Avi and Perachia – to you and to the soil of the Land of Israel that he loved so much. I wish to thank the IDF, the Mossad, the Shin Bet, and the Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing for many years of efforts and for their determined and courageous action to return Yehuda, of blessed memory, and to return all of our missing and hostages, the living and the fallen alike. The State of Israel and the Government of Israel under my leadership remain committed to this task, and will continue to carry it out. As the prophet Jeremiah said: "And there is hope for your future, says the Lord, and the children shall return to their own border [Jeremiah 31:16]".