Public Square

The Yonatan (Jonathan) Netanyahu Memorial

“They were swifter than eagles, they were faster than lions. The bow of Jonathan turned not back.”

~ II Samuel 1: 22-23 ~

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On May 14, 1948 the Modern State of Israel was declared, it was recognized on May 11, 1949; as Israel celebrates its 68th modern birthday, I share with you a memorial to one of its hero’s, a man who lived and died fighting for Israel’s right to exist – long may she stand!

In another week I’ll be 23. On me, on us, the young men of Israel, rests the duty of keeping our country safe. This is a heavy responsibility, which matures us early… I do not regret what I have done and what I’m about to do. I’m convinced that what I am doing is right. I believe in myself, in my country and in my future”1

~ Yonatan Netanyahu ~

Letter to his parents, dated March 6, 1969

 

Walking the streets of Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, which represents for most Americans, the birthplace of the documents and deeds, which led to American independence, I unexpectedly came across this poignant memorial to a son of both New York City and Israel, who lived a life guided by the principles, from the nation he was born in, and devoted to the ideals and dreams of the nation whose citizens he died defending.

Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu, who was born March 13, 1946 and killed in action on July 4, 1976, in Uganda, served with distinction in the Israel Defense Forces; he was the son of Professor Benzion Netanyahu, father of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Dr. Iddo Netanyahu, who like their older brother, also served in the Sayeret Matkal Unit, among their many other outstanding accomplishments.

The sculpture, which was created by Buky Schwartz, crafted from a single piece of marble, was dedicated on October 16, 1986, to the memory of Yonatan (Jonathan) Netanyahu, a veteran of Six Day War and Yom Kippur War. He lead the team that landed at the Entebbe Airport, on the evening of July 3 – 4, 1976 to rescue victims of an Air France flight, highjacked by two groups of terrorist, on June 27, that segregated the passengers believed to be Jewish or Israeli and the crew, from the rest of the travelers, who were let go.

 

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“He was a taciturn philosopher-soldier of terrific endurance, a hard-fibered, charismatic young leader, a magnificent fighting man. On the Golan Heights, in the Yom Kippur War, the unit he led was part of the force that held back a sea of Soviet tanks manned by Syrians, in a celebrated stand; and after Entebbe, ‘Yoni’ became in Israel almost a symbol of the nation itself. Today his name is spoken there with somber reverence.”2

~ Herman Wouk ~

 

I am looking forward to reading The Letters of Jonathan Netanyahu, which has been ordered, until then, I offer you another excerpt from Wikipedia:

“In 1980 many of Netanyahu’s personal letters were published. Author Herman Wouk describes them as a “remarkable work of literature, possibly one of the great documents of our time.”[10] Many of his letters were written hurriedly under trying conditions in the field, but according to a review in the New York Times, give a “convincing portrayal of a talented, sensitive man of our times who might have excelled at many things yet chose clear-sightedly to devote himself to the practice and mastery of the art of war, not because he liked to kill or wanted to, but because he knew that, as always in human history, good is no match for evil without the power to physically defend itself.”

Letter to his brother Benjamin, December 2, 1973:

“We’re preparing for war, and it’s hard to know what to expect. What I’m positive of is that there will be a next round, and others after that. But I would rather opt for living here in continual battle than for becoming part of the wandering Jewish people. Any compromise will simply hasten the end. As I don’t intend to tell my grandchildren about the Jewish State in the twentieth century as a mere brief and transient episode in thousands of years of wandering, I intend to hold on here with all my might.’”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yonatan_Netanyahu

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