ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL SPEAKS OUT (10/14/1994)
AN ATTEMPT TO SAVE THAT KIDNAPPED ISRAELI SOLDIER TAKES A DISASTEROUS TURN. ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER, YITZAK RABIN, SAYS NACHSHON WAXMAN AND ONE OF HIS WOULD-BE RESCUERS WERE KILLED. RABIN CONFIRMS THAT ISRAELI TROOPS TRIED TO RESCUE CORPORAL WAXMAN IN A WEST BANK VILLAGE. MUSLIM EXTREMISTS HOLDING WAXMAN HOSTAGE WERE ALSO KILLED, AND AT LEAST 20-OTHER ISRAELI SOLDIERS WERE REPORTEDLY WOUNDED. THE RAID WAS AUTHORIZED BY RABIN, EVEN THOUGH ISRAEL WAS NEGOTIATING WITH THE GROUP, HAMAS, WHICH HAD AGREED TO A 24-HOUR DELAY IN WAXMAN'S EXECUTION. THE DEADLINE HAD ORIGINALLY BEEN SET FOR FRIDAY AT 3 P-M EASTERN TIME. IN EXCHANGE FOR HIS RELEASE, HAMAS WANTED ISRAEL TO LET GO 200-MUSLIM PRISONERS... (SOT) MEANWHILE...PRESIDENT CLINTON IS CALLING THE DEATH A "DARK MOMENT." BUT HE SAYS THE PURSUIT OF PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST MUST GO FORWARD UNDETERRED. THE PRESIDENT ALSO EXPRESSED HIS SYMPATHY TO THE WAXMAN FAMILY. WAXMAN'S MOTHER, EMIGRATED FROM QUEENS TO ISRAEL 25 YEARS AGO. AND HER SON HELD A DUAL ISRAELI-AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. WAXMAN IS THE 10TH ISRAELI SOLDIER ABDUCTED BY HAMAS. THE NINE PREVIOUS CAPTIVES WERE ALL KILLED BY THEIR KIDNAPPERS.