The Mossad took DNA samples from a body in Lebanon in the hope that it was the remains of IDF pilot Ron Arad, the Saudi news outlet Al Arabiya reported on Tuesday night.

The report said that according to their sources, the Mossad carried out two operations in the past month, one in Syria, where agents reportedly abducted an Iranian general, and in Lebanon, where agents took DNA samples from a body in the northern Lebanese village of Nabi Chit.

Arad was reportedly held in captivity in Nabi Chit after being captured in Lebanon in 1986 by the Shiite Amal movement, the predecessor of the Hezbollah terror group. There are differing accounts of Arad’s fate following his capture. A Hezbollah report in 2008 claimed that he was killed in 1988 when he tried to flee his captors but another report in 2009 said that he was abducted from Nabi Chit by the Iranian Quds Force and taken to Iran.

Al Arabiya also repeated the report of the London-based Arabic-language newspaper Rai al-Youm that the Mossad abducted an Iranian general from Syria and interrogated him about Arad and then released him

Are the Arabic media reports true? Former Mossad agent Dr. Mishka Ben-David, who headed the POWs and Missing Persons Division, told Radio 103FM that he doesn’t think that the Mossad abducted an Iranian general to find more information about Arad.

“Abducting an Iranian general is feasible but I don’t think they would have risked an abduction in an enemy land in order to reveal more details on how Arad died or where he’s buried,” he said. “Israel didn’t even do that to find out more details about Iran’s nuclear project.”

Kan News correspondent Roi Kais also cast doubts on the Arabic-language reports, saying that past experiences show that neither outlet can be completely trusted, adding that both reports only came out following the publication of the Mossad operation by Prime Minister Bennett.

Meanwhile, senior Israeli figures continue to slam Bennett for revealing the operation for seemingly no purpose, with perhaps dangerous security consequences such as humiliating Iran.

“Bennett has nothing to lose and therefore he’s very dangerous,” Likud MK Miri Regev said. “The military censorship should check whether he crossed the red line.”

In addition, Israeli media reports revealed that Bennett did not inform Defense Minister Benny Gantz beforehand that he was publicizing the operation although he did inform Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)