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Iddo Netanyahu, brother
of former Israeli prime-minister Benjamin Netanyahu is an established
writer currently living in the United States. Two of Netanyahu's
book's, "Letters of Jonathon Netanyahu: The Commander of the Entebbe
Rescue Force," and "Yoni's Last Battle:An Inside Story of the
Remarkable Rescue at Entebbe" are currently recieving acclaim
from readers and critics. The books are in-depth accounts of the
raid at Entebbe airport in which 106 Israeli hostages were freed
from their captives. Iddo's brother Jonathon (Yoni) was the leader
of a commando force that accomplished the raid and was the only
soldier killed in the battle.
ASUNDER PRESS Editor Lance Vargas recently had the opportunity
to speak with Mr. Netanyahu about his two books.
Lance Vargas: Aside from your two books, tell us about
who you are independent from them.
Iddo Netanyahu: I was born in Jerusalem and spent part
of my childhood in the U.S. My father was a professor of Jewish
history at several universities. I finished my last year of high
school in Denver, Colorado. I then returned to serve in the Israeli
Army and I enlisted in the same commando unit as my bothers, Jonathon
and Benjamin, who you know I'm sure. And that was the same unit
that my brother Johnathon led at the rescue at Entebbe. Following
the service, I began my studies at Cornell University here in
the U.S. but I cut it short because the Yom Kippur War broke out.
So I returned to Israel to take part in the war and subsequently
started studying medicine in Israel and started my writing career.
I published a few books and now I divide my time between writing
and medicine.
L.V.: In addition to the two books you're currently involved
with, what are other contributions have you made to the literary
world?
I.N.: Three books. One is a book of short stories, part
of which has been translated into Russian. I also wrote "Itamar
K," a political, cultural and social satire about Isreal. And
I published several stories in various publications here and there.
LV: What is the main theme or subject of "Yoni's Last Battle"?
I.D.: It is a book that details the operation at Entebbe
and concentrates mostly on the elite commando unit, which is called,
"Sayeret Matkal." It details the main part of the raid and the
rescue of the hostages, mainly the fighting with the Ugandan Army
in the terminal and with the terrorists and releasing the hostages.
The battles that took place in that whole are that is called the
old termminal at the Entebbe airport where the hostages were kept.
That whole part was what my brother's unit was in charge of and
of course my brother was the commander. He was the only Isreali
soldier killed in the raid.
L.V. Describe the political situation thast led up to the
incident at Entebbe.. I.D.: The terrorists were a mixture
of Arab and German. Palestinian for the most part who were aided
by two german terrorists. The group that executed the actual operation
was called the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The man who headed the group was a terrorist called Wadia Haddad.
Their demands were to release 53 terrorists, most of whom were
jailed in Isreal. Some were jailed in Western Europe. That's what
they wanted. They wanted the release of the terrorists for the
lives of the hostages. They flew the plane to Uganda, they took
the hostages off the plane and took them to the old terminal.
They released the non-Isreali hostages and kept the Isreali's
and a few Jews that had an orthadox look about them. Israel felt
it had no choice but to give in to the demands. They extended
the dealine for two days and in that time, intellegence started
filtering in and the government was able to start forming an operational
plan and which was executed.
L.V. What are some of your the thoughts detailed in your
brother's book of letters?
I.D.: He writes about everything. From his impression of
the country road he's driving on to the national predicament of
Israel. But I would say the one underlying theme that emerges
in the letters is that he came to realize how precarious Israel's
existance is. He basically found himself committing his life to
the purpose of trying to ensure the survival of Isreal. In one
of the letters, when he was seventeen, he states that he does
not fear death. That if he needed to sacrafice his life in order
to attan a purpose he would have no hesitation doing so. He wrote
this when he was seventeen and eventually lived up to that idea.
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