Yonatan Netanyahu

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Yonatan Netanyahu
March 13, 1946 – July 4, 1976
Nickname Yoni
Place of birth New York, United States
Place of death Entebbe, Uganda
Allegiance Israel
Years of service 1964-1976
Rank Lieutenant Colonel
Unit Sayeret Matkal
Battles/wars Six Day War
War of Attrition
Yom Kippur War
Operation Entebbe
Awards Medal of Distinguished Service
Netanyahu's gravestone
Netanyahu's gravestone

Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu or Jonathan Netanyahu (Hebrew: יונתן "יוני" נתניהו) , (March 13, 1946 – July 4, 1976) was a member of the Israel Defense Forces elite Sayeret Matkal unit. His younger brother Benjamin Netanyahu was Prime Minister of Israel from 1996-1999, and currently serves as Leader of the Opposition in the Knesset.

Yoni was awarded the Medal of Distinguished Service (Hebrew:עיטור המופת) for his conduct in the Yom Kippur War. He was killed in action during Operation Entebbe at Entebbe airport, by Ugandan soldiers, when the Israeli military rescued hostages after an aircraft hijacking. He was the leader of the assault, and the only Israeli military casualty of the raid.

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[edit] Military career

Yonatan Netanyahu joined the Israeli Defence Forces in 1964. He volunteered to serve in the Paratroopers Brigade and excelled in the Officer Training Course. He was eventually given command of a paratroopers company. On June 5, 1967, during the Six Day War, his battalion fought the battle of Um Katef in Sinai, then reinforced the Golan Heights. During the battle, Yonatan received a wound to his elbow while helping an injured fellow soldier.

After the Six Day War, Netanyahu went to the United States in order to study at Harvard University, but returned a year later because of the War of Attrition. Instead, he studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, returning to active military service after half a year.

In the early 1970's he joined Sayeret Matkal (Israeli special forces) and in the summer of 1972 was appointed as the unit's deputy commander. During that year, he commanded a raid (Operation Crate 3) in which senior Syrian officers were captured and exchanged in return for captive Israeli pilots. The following year he participated in Operation Spring of Youth (Hebrew: מבצע אביב נעורים) in which the alleged terrorists and leadership of Black September were selectively killed by Sayeret Matkal, Shayetet-13 and the Mossad.

During the Yom Kippur War in October 1973, Netanyahu commanded a Sayeret Matkal force in the Golan Heights that killed more than 40 Syrian Commando officers in a battle which thwarted the Syrian commandos' raid in the Golan's heartland. During the same war, he also rescued Lieutenant Colonel Yossi Ben Hanan from Tel Shams, while Ben-Hanan was lying wounded behind Syrian lines.

Following the war, Netanyahu was awarded Medal of Distinguished Service (Hebrew: עיטור המופת), Israel's third highest military decoration, for his wartime conduct. Netanyahu then volunteered to serve as armor commander due to the heavy casualties inflicted on the Israeli Armored Corps during the war, with a disproportionate number of these in the officer ranks. Netanyahu excelled in Tank Officers course and was given command of the Barak Armored Brigade, which was shattered during the war. Netanyahu turned his brigade into the leading military unit in the Golan Heights.

In June 1975 Netanyahu left the Armored Corps and returned to Sayeret Matkal as unit commander. He was killed in action on July 4, 1976 while commanding Operation Entebbe, his first big operation since returning to the unit. Netanyahu was the only Israeli soldier killed during the raid (along with 3 hostages, all involved Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine members and dozens of Ugandan soldiers). The operation itself was considered by Israel as a success and was posthumously renamed Mivtsa Yonatan (Operation Yonatan) in honor of Netanyahu.

Netanyahu was buried in Jerusalem's Military Cemetery at Mount Herzl on July 6 following a military funeral attended by enormous crowds and top-ranking officials. Shimon Peres, then Defense Minister, said during the eulogy that “…a bullet had torn the young heart of one of Israel’s finest sons, one of its most couragous warriors, one of its most promising commanders – the magnificent Yonatan Netanyahu.”

[edit] Personal life

Yonatan was born to Benzion and Cela Netanyahu. Benzion is a professor emeritus of history at Cornell University, and researched the topic of the marranos extensively. Yonatan had two brothers, Binyamin and Iddo. Binyamin (nicknamed "Bibi") later became Prime Minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999. Iddo, youngest of the three, is a radiologist and writer. All three brothers served in Sayeret Matkal.

Yonatan Netanyahu attended Cheltenham High School in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, where he was a classmate of Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson.

Netanyahu married Tirza (Tutti) Krasnoselsky on August 17, 1967. Shortly after their wedding, they flew to the U.S., where Yoni enrolled at Harvard University. He took classes in Philosophy and Mathematics. He excelled in both and was on the Dean's List at the end of his first year. However, feeling restless from being away from Israel, especially during its time of need in the War of Attrition, Yoni transferred to Jerusalem's Hebrew University in 1968. In early 1969, he decided to leave his studies and return to the army to protect his country. Military life took a strain on his marriage and in 1972, he and Tutti divorced.

[edit] Further reading

  • Self-Portrait of a Hero: From the Letters of Jonathan Netanyahu 1963-1976; Netanyahu, Jonathan / Netanyahu, Benjamin / Netanyahu, Iddo (1998); Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-67461-3
  • The Letters of Jonathan Netanyahu : The Commander of the Entebbe Rescue Operation; Jonathan Netanyahu (2001); Gefen Publishing House. ISBN 978-9652292674 (variation of the above)
  • Yoni: Hero of Entebbe; Max Hastings (1979); DoubleDay. ISBN 978-0385271271 (a biography of Yoni Netanyahu; although not as deep as the collection of his letters, it still gives an idea of his life events)
  • Entebbe: A Defining Moment in the War on Terrorism--The Jonathan Netanyahu Story; Iddo Netanyahu (2003); Balfour Books. ISBN 978-0892215539
  • Yoni's Last Battle: The Rescue at Entebbe, 1976; Iddo Netanyahu, Yoram Harzony (2001); Gefen Publishing House. ISBN 978-9652292834
  • Yoni Netanyahu: Commando at Entebbe; Devra Newberger Speargen (1997); Jewish Publication Society of America. ISBN 978-0827606425

[edit] External links