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International News Title: How Israel’s most daring rescue shaped Bibi Netanyahu. Benjamin Netanyahu has been a fixture in public life for so long, its hard to imagine Israeli politics without him. But a new documentary about the death of Netanyahus older brother underscores the extent to which Bibis trajectory was not inevitable. As commander of the Israeli Armys elite Sayeret Matkal unit in 1976, Yoni Netanyahu died rescuing Israeli hostages hijacked by Palestinian and German terrorists to Entebbe, Uganda. At the time, Bibi had been scaling the corporate knoll at the Boston Consulting Group, having graduated from MIT (he met Mitt Romney at BCG, and the two have kept in touch). He returned to Israel after the tragedy to start an antiterrorism foundation in his brothers name, a detour that eventually led him to politics. I thought I would be either in the academic world or the business world, the Israeli prime minister told Newsweek in an email interview to mark the films release in Los Angeles this week. My brothers death changed my life and directed it to its present course, he said. As for an ideological impact, Netanyahu added: It didnt shape my worldview. It reaffirmed it. The film, Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story, is an unqualified paean to Bibis brother. It adds little to the oft-told narrative of Entebbe, easily the gutsiest antiterrorism operation of the era. But it does reveal something new and interesting about the private lives of the Netanyahus. Drawing on home videos and interviews with family members, the film paints a portrait of an authoritarian father and his three overachieving sons. Yoni, the eldest, is clearly the admired one: he was the head of the student council, was on the deans list at Harvard, and through his relentless drive excelled in the Army. Yoni was considered the protector, says his father, Benzion Netanyahu, in the film, describing the relationship of the three boys growing up. If there was a problem of protection, he would jump into the danger point. When the protector died, it fell on Bibi to break the news to his father after a grueling six-hour drive from Boston to Philadelphia. All of a sudden his face turned, and he saw me, and I think he said, Bibi, what are you doing here? the prime minister recounts on camera in the films most dramatic moment. And then his expression changed, and he understood immediately. And my mother let out a terrible scream. Ill never forget that. It was actually worse than hearing about Yonis death. Yoni Netanyahu in the 1970s. (Israeli Government Press Office via Getty Images) Thirty-six years since Entebbe, some of the rescues key figures now lead Israel. Three veterans of the operation are members of Prime Minister Netanyahus cabinet, and a fourth left the government last year to become Israels ambassador to China. Though the film fails to draw the connection, its hard to watch without wondering about the impact of generation Entebbe on Israels policies today. The rescue exemplified all those things that the world admires about Israelis, chiefly their courage and creativity in the face of threats. The commandos traveled 2,500 miles to the Entebbe airport, killed all the hijackers, along with 45 Ugandan soldiers, and rescued 102 hostages. But the same can-do spirit has also led Israel to overreach at times. Will the effort to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons end well or mire Israel in a senseless war? In the interview, Netanyahu addressed the question by referring to his own experience in Sayeret Matkal (his younger brother, Iddo, also served in the elite unit). It was physically challenging and mentally challenging because it demanded at once a great deal of creativity alongside internal discipline. That required the officers to think out of the box, he said. I think that hasnt changed.
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More Israeli mythology for US Christians. They sure know the mind of you Tea Baggers well. Get you hooked on a book full of Jewish magic and just keep it coming.
Almost every country in the Middle East is awash in oil, and we have to side with the one that has nothing but joos. Goddamn, that was good thinkin'. Esso posted on 2012-01-13 7:37:56 ET
It is not easy reconstructing 'molded minds'...
Are you saying Jesus was a liar?
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