Naftali Bennett, Prime Minister-designate, speaks at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, during a special session whereby a confidence vote will be held to approve and swear-in a new coalition government, in Jerusalem June 13, 2021. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told the Knesset (Israel parliament) plenum on Monday that agents from the Mossad spy agency carried out an operation last month to find the location of Ron Arad, an Israeli Air Force (IAF) navigator kidnapped by the Shiite group Amal in Lebanon in 1986.

“It was a complex and large-scale operation. That’s all we can say for the moment,” he said, adding that it was “another effort to understand what happened to Ron.”

Bennett thanked Mossad staff, pledging to “continue to act to bring all our boys home, wherever they are.”

The premier made the announcement during a speech at the beginning of the winter assembly of the 24th Knesset.

Arad was taken captive in October 1986 after he was forced to eject from his fighter jet on a bombing mission over Lebanon. The pilot, Yishai Aviram, also ejected from the plane and managed to escape.

Arad was listed as missing in action for 31 years until until two intelligence reports by IDF intelligence and the Mossad concluded that he had died in 1988.