"Netanyahu was a junior commander who made serious mistakes; they jeopardized the execution of Operation Savannah"

Ehud Barak's entourage attacked former Prime Minister Netanyahu and called the comments he wrote in his book "sour". "Barak planned the operation, prepared it and commanded it," they said in Barak's entourage. "He was also the one who would bear the responsibility if the operation had failed." They also quoted Yoni Netanyahu's words of praise: "An exemplary commander"

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17/10/2022

Monday, October 17, 2022, 9:37 p.m. Updated: 9:40 p.m.

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In the video: the release of a Savannah plane in action by a patrol of the General Staff, May 1972 (photo: IDF and Defense System Archives)

Ehud Barak's surroundings attacked former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu today (Monday) and called the comments he wrote about him in his book "sour".

This, after Netanyahu claimed that "over the years, Barak made political capital from the Savannah rescue operation [...]. He never bothered to inform the public or the press that he personally did not break into the plane at all."

Barak's surroundings opened the conversation by saying, "Ehud Barak is known to be one of Netanyahu's harshest political critics."

In Netanyahu's book, he claims that Barak was awarded four TLS for actions that "were rare at the time in the unit, but over time became routine", and that the fifth TLS "was not given to him for courage under fire, but for his command of the patrol".

In Barak's environment, they noted, "The TLS were given to Barak by Chiefs of Staff Zvi Tzur once, Yitzhak Rabin several times, and David (Dado) Elazar, over a period of more than ten years. It will be said sarcastically: The Chiefs of Staff may have been wrong and Netanyahu was right.

"Sour Notes".

Barak and Netanyahu (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Afterwards, Barak's entourage responded to Netanyahu's claims about Barak's activities during Operation Sabana in 1972, and claimed that he himself made "serious mistakes".

"During 'Operation Sabna', Netanyahu was a junior commander in the unit, who made some serious mistakes during the execution that jeopardized the execution," they said.

"This despite the fact that he is usually a good young officer. Barak was the commander of the unit, who planned the operation, prepared it and commanded it. He was also the one who would bear the responsibility if, God forbid, the operation failed."

In Barak's environment, they also mentioned Barak's deputy, Yoni Netanyahu, and said that "Barak as the commander of the unit was also seen by Netanyahu differently, more objectively."

Around Ehud Barak, they quoted from "Yoni Letters" in the summer of 1973, where Netanyahu's brother wrote about Barak that he sees him as an "exemplary commander."

"So many good things were said about you in the closing remarks, that it would be almost unnecessary for me to start praising you," Yoni Netanyahu wrote.

"Actually, you gave the best summary of all the things you have given to the unit in recent years, as usual, in your 'I believe' at the exchange ceremony.

More in Walla!

Netanyahu: "Barak made political capital from Operation Savannah, he didn't break into the plane at all"

To the full article

"Netanyahu made serious mistakes."

Barak in Operation Savannah (photo: Walla! system, use according to Article 27A of the Copyright Law)

"A few personal words, nevertheless:

it's hard for you to describe how much I enjoyed working with you. I see the last few years as a great privilege and a real personal gain. Without a doubt, I learned a lot. More than once, when I thought I already knew you, you surprised me with something else and opened another window to examine Things are in his favor in a new way. When you commanded the unit, you were not only an exemplary commander, but you also taught us ways of working efficiently and being willing to accept responsibility. You taught us to distinguish between the main thing to take care of and to concentrate mainly. You showed great flexibility and enough broad-mindedness to withdraw from a position you took (such as in cases where you realized that you were wrong, or even that you might have been wrong), along with hardness and uncompromising stubbornness when it was needed.

"You gave the unit not only work habits and thinking on a new scale, you also succeeded in instilling in the army the recognition of this ability (and of the many supervisors this may be the most serious). Not for nothing said Digli (Menachem Digli, Commander of the General Staff patrol in 1969-1971) that in his opinion You were the best commander in the unit.

He was, of course, right.

I only knew about it almost two years before him.

Aside from all these things, you surprised me with the great tact you showed in working with both the officers and the soldiers in the unit, and with your understanding and genuine concern for the members of the unit.

Understanding not only that it is desirable to behave this way for tactical reasons (this is obvious), but that this is really the way to behave, because it is more humane, more moral.

"I don't want to go into the whole spectrum of things that were said to you (tactical understanding, clarity of thought, etc. - just blush!) It's enough that I finish with one last thing: I've always enjoyed commanding and working independently and I've always hated the idea of ​​being limited and subordinated directly to someone. I have to say, you succeeded To do something that I thought was impossible for me - you made it so that I enjoyed being a lieutenant in the unit. The fact that my achievements about the nature and way of managing the unit matched the spirit of things as you introduced to the unit, and the knowledge that I enjoyed complete trust and independence of action, undoubtedly contributed to the fact that I see the years of Working with you is most enjoyable and blessed."

Netanyahu at a ceremony for the participants of Operation Savannah (photo: IDF spokesman, (Ron Ilan) courtesy of the IDF Archives at the Ministry of Defense)

Barak's surroundings added, "For curious people who are worried about the bibists, we can add: you can be freed from the worry. The commander of an operation and only he determines when and where it is right to be in order for the operation to be successful."

While Netanyahu claimed that "Barak was watching from the sidelines, his only role in the attack on the Savannah plane was to stand on the asphalt and blow a whistle", those around Barak claimed that he "gave the signal to start the operation and immediately climbed on the wing with the squads of Danny Bruner and Omar Eran and Vida who overcome the delays which resulted from the circumstances and the lack of experience in opening emergency doors from the outside.

"Even after he was killed by Omer the terrorist's gun in the wing area and Mordechai Rahamim rushed to the cockpit to eliminate the other, Bibi's door was still not broken in," said people around Ehud Barak.

"With the entry of the squads on the left wing, Barak rushed to the rear door, which was very high and seemed to be delayed in the break-in, and re-entered the plane following the squad of Uzi Dayan, who was personally involved in neutralizing the grenade in the hand of the terrorist in the rear area. Everything appears, by the way, in interrogation transcripts from 50 years ago."

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• Ehud Barak

• Benjamin Netanyahu

• Operation Savannah