JNS
The remains of Pvt. Arthur Gasner, missing since 1949, have been identified and will soon be honored with a headstone in Rehovot.
After more than seven decades of uncertainty, the final resting place of fallen Israel Defense Forces soldier Pvt. Arthur Gasner has been identified, the IDF announced on Thursday. The discovery brings long-awaited closure to his family and concludes a complex investigation by the military's Missing Persons Branch.
Gasner fell in battle on April 20, 1949, during an IDF operation near the village of Duweima in the Judean hills. His unit, part of the Negev Brigade’s 8th Battalion, engaged in a fierce clash with infiltrators. Twelve soldiers were killed, and three—Gasner, Gabriel Magnagi and Kalman Chepnik—were initially declared missing in action.
Subsequent intelligence and diplomatic efforts revealed that the bodies of the three soldiers had been taken by local Arab villagers to a cave in the nearby village of Idna, which at the time was under Jordanian control. On May 6, 1949, the IDF carried out a special mission to retrieve the soldiers' remains. While two of them—Magnagi and Chepnik—were identified and buried in a mass grave at the Rehovot Military Cemetery, Gasner’s body remained officially unaccounted for.
In 2020, the IDF reopened the investigation into Gasner’s fate. A special investigative team launched a multi-year effort, combining archival research, witness interviews, soil analysis and archaeological surveys. Their findings led to the conclusion that Gasner was, in fact, buried alongside his comrades in the Rehovot cemetery.
Last week, his family, including a surviving niece, was informed of the discovery by the IDF’s Head of Human Resources, Brig.-Gen. Edna Ilia. A ceremony to add Gasner’s name to the shared grave will be held soon, bringing a formal end to his status as missing in action.
The announcement comes amid continued IDF efforts to recover captives and missing persons, particularly in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks. The military emphasized its unwavering commitment to accounting for all its fallen soldiers and hostages.
"After 76 years and a professional, in-depth investigation, we now know that Arthur Gasner, the last missing soldier from the 1949 Beit Gubrin operation, rests beside his comrades," said Maj.-Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa, head of the IDF Personnel Directorate. "This moment reminds us of our moral obligation to bring every soldier home and ease the pain of bereaved families."
This is the second time in a week that the IDF has identified the remains of a fallen soldier, having recently found and repatriated Sgt. Tzvi Feldman. He was killed in the First Lebanon War, but was found deep in Syrian territory. Feldman was buried with full military honors in the Holon Military Cemetery on Monday.
