Yonatan Netanyahu
| Yonatan Netanyahu | |
|---|---|
Last known photo, taken shortly before his death leading Operation Entebbe
|
|
| Other name(s) | Jonathan Netanyahu |
| Nickname(s) | Yoni |
| Born | March 13, 1946 New York City, United States |
| Died | July 4, 1976 (aged 30) Entebbe, Uganda |
| Allegiance |
 Israel
|
| Years of service | 1964–1976 |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Unit | Sayeret Matkal |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Medal of Distinguished Service |
Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu (Hebrew: יונתן נתניהו; March 13, 1946 – July 4, 1976) was an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer who commanded the elite commando unit Sayeret Matkal during Operation Entebbe, an operation to rescue hostages held at Entebbe Airport in Uganda in 1976. The mission was successful, with 102 of the 106 hostages rescued, but Netanyahu was killed in action—the only IDF fatality during the operation.
The eldest son of the Israeli professor Benzion Netanyahu, Yonatan was born in New York City and spent much of his youth in the United States, where he attended high school. After serving in the IDF during the Six-Day War of 1967, he briefly attended Harvard University before transferring to Jerusalem's Hebrew University in 1968; soon thereafter he left his studies and returned to the IDF. He joined Sayeret Matkal in the early 1970s and was awarded the Medal of Distinguished Service for his conduct in the Yom Kippur War of 1973. After his death Operation Entebbe was renamed "Operation Yonatan" in his honour.
Netanyahu's younger brother, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been Prime Minister of Israel since 2009, and also served in that office between 1996 and 1999. Both Benjamin and a third brother, Iddo Netanyahu, served in Sayeret Matkal.
Yonatan Netanyahu was born in New York City, the eldest son of Zila (née Segal; 1912–2000) and Benzion Netanyahu (1910–2012), a professor emeritus of history at Cornell University. He was named after his paternal grandfather, rabbi Nathan Mileikowsky, and Colonel John Henry Patterson, who formerly commanded the Jewish Legion and attended his circumcision. His two brothers are Benjamin and Iddo. Benjamin (nicknamed "Bibi") was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1996, in 2009 and reelected in both 2013 and 2015. Iddo, the youngest of the three, is a radiologist and writer. All three brothers served in Sayeret Matkal.
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