Doron Almog

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Doron Almog
Born 1951

Allegiance	Israel
Service/branch	Southern Command
Years of service	1969—2003
Rank	Aluf
Commands held	Shaldag Unit, Paratroopers Brigade, Infantry Corps, Gaza Division
Battles/wars	War of Attrition, Yom Kippur War, Operation Entebbe, First Lebanon War, Operation Moses

Doron Almog (born 1951 as Doron Avrotzky) is a Major General (res.) in the Israel Defense Forces reserves.

In 1976's Operation Entebbe, he was the first para-reconnaissance commander to land on the runway at Entebbe, marking it for incoming Israeli airplanes, then leading the capture of the airfield's control tower in the rescue operation. In 1984-1985, he participated in the clandestine airlift of 7,000 endangered Beta Israel (or "Falasha") Jews from Ethiopia to Israel in what was known as "Operation Moses". In his most recent post, as head of the IDF Southern Command from 2000-2003 he secured the border of the Gaza Strip against infiltration by Palestinian militants.^{[citation needed]}. During his tenure at this post, he also fought for the rights of the Beduin residents of the Negev region. He initiated a special education initiative for Beduin that has allowed many without high school diplomas to complete university degrees.^{[citation needed]} (Beduins make up about 25% of the population of the Negev region and many serve with distinction in the IDF.)

During his time as a commander in the Gaza Strip it is alleged that he ordered the demolition of 59 Palestinian civilian homes in Rafah in retaliation for the deaths of Israeli soldiers, in breach of the Geneva Conventions.^{[citation needed]} The Israeli government has countered that these homes were legitimate targets in that they were being used by terrorists to launch attacks against Israelis, both civilian and military.^{[citation needed]}

As per the below cited Harvard Crimson article, "Yitshak Kreiss, a School of Government mid-career student, said he had served under Almog’s leadership from 2000 to 2003. 'I feel I present the integrity of the IDF,' he said. 'Doron Almog gave me orders to endanger [Israeli] soldiers’ lives to aid wounded Palestinian women in Gaza. Doron Almog is not a war criminal.'"

On September 10, 2005, as he arrived in London on an El Al flight to do fundraising for Aleh, a handicapped services organization with which he is affiliated, Almog learned that a warrant had been issued (by Chief London Magistrate Timothy Workman at Bow Street Magistrates' Court) for his arrest for violating the Geneva Conventions in connection with the home destructions in Gaza. According to Almog "(w)e were about to get off the plane, then one of the stewards came up to me and said the pilot asked that I disembark last. After some time, the chief steward said that the Israeli military attache was on his way and wanted to speak to me. I phoned him and he told me not to get off the plane." Almog remained on board the plane for two hours until it returned to Israel; Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism officers did not attempt to board the plane to effect an arrest or prevent the plane from departing.[1] It later emerged that the senior counter-terrorism officer in charge of the operation had feared the public safety and possible diplomatic impact of a potential armed confrontation with bodyguards or El Al sky marshals, should they have attempted to execute the arrest warrant on board the plane.^[1]

The petition for the arrest warrant had been filed by Daniel Machover, acting as attorney for the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. Machover is the head of Civil Litigation for Hickman & Rose Solicitors (London), and, co-founder (in 1988) of Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights. After the failed arrest, Machover demanded an investigation of why police failed to board Almog's plane, and of who leaked news of the impending arrest. Machover also demanded that Israel's Foreign Ministry waive their diplomatic privileges to facilitate investigation. Peter Clarke, the UK anti-terrorism coordinator refused these demands, stating that he lacked resources for such an investigation. The foreign secretary, Jack Straw, apologized to his Israeli counterpart over the attempted arrest, and the warrant has been withdrawn. The Guardian reported that the UK government was "examining stopping private individuals applying to magistrates for prosecutions over war crimes..." A review by Independent Police Complaints Commission was unable to identify the source of the leak.^[1]

Almog is also the father of a son with severe autism and mental retardation. His autistic son Eran died at age 23 in 2007. He is the founder of Aleh Negev, which provides residential, medical and social services to the handicapped of southern Israel. After Eran's death, Aleh Negev was changed to Nachalat Eran.

Five members of the Almog family from Haifa: Ze'ev Almog, 71, his wife Ruth, 70, their son Moshe, 43, and grandsons Tomer Almog, 9, and Assaf Staier, 11 were killed in a suicide bombing of Maxim restaurant in Haifa October 4, 2003.