If you were to ask someone on the street today, “What about the hostages?", you might well be met with surprise. Haven’t they all been brought home? Didn’t we cry out “Bring Them Home" and witness their return?

Thank G-d, all of the hostages taken on Simchat Torah [October 7, 2023] have indeed been released or returned to Israel. That is a source of immense gratitude. But it does not mean that every hostage has come home. Even now, as I write these words, there are those who remain in captivity - or whose fate has yet to be resolved.

They are Eli Cohen, Ron Arad, and Yehuda Katz. Three names that time and shifting realities have pushed from the forefront of public discourse - but whose families continue to wait.

Eli Cohen: Hostage Number One

Eli Cohen was among the most remarkable intelligence agents in the history of the State of Israel. In February 1962, he relocated to Damascus under the alias Kamel Amin Thaabet. With extraordinary skill and personal charisma, he cultivated close relationships with senior Syrian political and military figures.

His integration into Syrian society was so complete that he was nearly appointed Minister of Defense. Syrian officials entrusted him with highly sensitive military information, which he transmitted to his Mossad handlers. It is widely acknowledged that the intelligence he provided played a decisive role in Israel’s swift victory over Syria in the Six Day War.

On January 24, 1965, Syrian security forces raided his apartment and apprehended him while he was transmitting information. He was arrested, interrogated, and tortured. Within months, he was convicted of espionage and sentenced to death. On May 18, 1965, he was publicly hanged in Al-Marjeh Square in Damascus.

More than 60 years later, Syria continues to hold his body, repeatedly refusing to release it for burial in Israel. Eli Cohen should long ago have been laid to rest on Mount Herzl. Instead, he remains, in effect, hostage number one.

Ron Arad: Hostage Number Two

On October 16, 1986, Israeli Air Force pilot Yishai Aviram and navigator Ron Arad were dispatched to strike PLO targets in southern Lebanon. A bomb released from their F-4 Phantom aircraft detonated prematurely, damaging the jet and forcing the crew to eject.

Hours later, an IDF helicopter located and rescued Aviram under heavy fire. Arad, however, was captured by local forces.

He was first taken to Beirut and later held by a group affiliated with the Lebanese Amal movement. In 1988, he was reportedly transferred to Hezbollah and concealed in the village of Nabi Sheet in the Beqaa Valley. Subsequent reports suggested he may have been moved to Iran and held in isolation in Tehran before being returned to Hezbollah custody in 1994.

From that point on, his fate became increasingly uncertain. The prevailing assessment has been that Arad died between 1995 and 1997, reportedly from malnutrition and lack of medical care. However, his fate has never been conclusively established. As a result, his wife has remained classified as an agunah, unable to remarry under Jewish law.

Alive or deceased, Ron Arad has never been brought home. He remains hostage number two.

Yehuda Katz: Hostage Number Three

Yehuda Katz was captured alongside Zechariah Baumel and Zvi Feldman during the Battle of Sultan Yacoub on June 11, 1982, one of the most difficult engagements fought by the IDF in Lebanon.

Twenty-one Israeli soldiers were killed and more than 30 wounded in the battle. Syrian forces had deployed approximately 30,000 troops into Lebanon to assist the PLO, along with advanced anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles and Soviet armored vehicles, including T-55 and T-62 tanks.

Following the battle, Syrian forces transported Baumel, Feldman, Katz, and their tank to Damascus, parading the tank through the streets with Syrian and Palestinian flags in a public display of triumph.

Over time, the IDF assessment concluded that the three soldiers had likely been killed. In April 2019, a joint operation by the Mossad and the IDF succeeded in recovering the remains of Zechariah Baumel, who was brought to burial in Israel. In May 2025, in a similar operation, the remains of Zvi Feldman were also returned to Israel.

Yehuda Katz, however, has not been returned. Whether his remains are still held in Syria or were transferred elsewhere is unknown. Decades later, his case remains unresolved.

Remembering Those Still Missing

There is profound joy and gratitude over the return of the Simchat Torah hostages - both those who survived and those who perished al kiddush Hashem. Their return was nothing short of a miracle.

But it is not accurate to say that all the hostages have come home. Eli Cohen’s body remains in Syria. Ron Arad’s fate has never been conclusively determined. Yehuda Katz has yet to be brought to burial.

Their families continue to wait. Their stories remain unfinished.

And until they are returned to Israel - alive or for burial - the chapter of Israel’s hostages is not fully closed.