A popular, romanticized image of the Israelis who founded the state depicts a person with one hand on a hoe, and the other on a rifle, ready to defend the land.
But the image of the farmer/fighter represented only one ideal Israeli type. There was another, perhaps later image — the urban scholar/warrior.
The three sons of Benzion and Cela Netanyahu — Jonathan (“Yoni”), Benjamin (“Bibi,” a former Israeli prime minister) and Iddo — are prime examples of that second ideal. All of them were commandos in an elite unit, the Sayeret Matkal, during their army service, and all excelled scholastically.
Jonathan, the oldest, was by all accounts a brilliant student at Harvard University as well as a hardened and experienced soldier. He served with valor in the 1967 Six Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War, as well as in several classified operations.
But it was the 1976 hijacking of an Air France passenger jet with scores of Israelis aboard to Entebbe, Uganda, by a Palestinian terrorist organization that catapulted Jonathan to hero status throughout the world.
When the terrorists threatened to execute the hostages, Israel decided to attempt a rescue operation. The Sayeret Matkal, the unit Jonathan commanded, was given the brunt of the job.
As commander, Lt. Col. Jonathan did the bulk of the planning for the operation, which commenced on July 4. Once in action, he lead his unit toward the airport terminal.
He was the only soldier to fall during the operation, which rescued all but four of the hostages. Three died during the rescue, and one, Dora Bloch, was in a Ugandan hospital and executed the following day.
After the raid, Jonathan’s letters to family and friends were published as “The Letters of Jonathan Netanyahu” (Gefen), providing an intimate view of a complex modern day hero. They were written from the time he was a teenager in 1963 until just a week before his death.
Iddo, the youngest, will speak about a new release of the book at the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center’s Book and Culture Fair on Nov. 11, 7 p.m., in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Entebbe rescue operation.
He will also be speaking about his own book, “Yoni’s Last Battle: An Inside Story of the Remarkable Rescue at Entebbe,” which was recently released in English for the first time. It is based in part on new accounts of the raid by commandos who served in the original unit.
Growing influence
Iddo was born in Jerusalem but spent part of his childhood in the United States. Returning to Israel after high school, he followed his two older brothers into the Sayeret Matkal.
A physician, he currently divides his time between his medical career and writing. He is also a husband and father of two children.
Iddo, who was 24 when his brother fell, said during a telephone interview from his Jerusalem home that, “Paradoxically, Yoni’s influence has grown on me every year since he passed away.
Describing his brother as “extremely intelligent” with a knack for analyzing complex situations, Iddo called him a “tremendous realist” who could “view reality with a sharp eye.”
The new edition contains an appendix called “Yoni’s Last Days,” which Iddo said “is a synopsis of the raid at Entebbe based on research I conducted.” The book also contains a foreword by brother Benjamin.
The book is still widely read in Israel, said Iddo, and has “had tremendous impact on people ideologically. People who read it were certainly influenced by it.”
He said Israel’s situation in the Middle East today “is changing, yet not changing. The basic problems remain the same. The issues in Yoni’s letters existed then and they still do.
“[Despite the fact that] some Arab states have signed peace agreements, there is a lack of acceptance [of Israel’s existence] by the Arabs. This is the same problem we faced when the letters were written. The issue of motivation of the Jewish people to fight for their survival existed then and exists now.”
Admission to Iddo Netanyahu’s talk is $12 adults, $10 students. For more information, call 414-697-8217 or 414-967-8233.
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