A Rare Glimpse of Yoni Netanyahu’s Valor

The Fellowship  |  October 18, 2016

Yonatan “Yoni” Netanyahu, older brother of Israel’s prime minister, is perhaps best-known for giving his life during the 1976 raid on Entebbe that saved the lives of over 100 hostages. However, that mission was not the only time that Yoni proved to be a hero. Israel Hayom’s Lilach Shoval reports on recently declassified recordings made during a rescue mission Yoni carried out during 1973’s Yom Kippur War:

The mission saw the Golan Heights rescue of wounded tank battalion commander Yossi Ben-Hanan from enemy fire. Yoni Netanyahu was awarded the IDF’s Medal of Distinguished Service for his actions. He was killed during Operation Entebbe less than three years later.

Ben-Hanan was wounded after his tank was hit by Syrian fire. He was pulled out of the tank by crew member Zvika Rosenzweig, who dragged him to a nearby location, which was still under threat by Syrian forces. A rescue mission under Netanyahu’s command was dispatched to retrieve both.

The tapes allow for a rare glimpse of the operation, with the voices of then-7th Armored Brigade Commander Avigdor (Yanush) Ben-Gal, then-division commander Rafael Eitan, and Netanyahu…