A POET AND A WARRIOR
Jonathan (Yoni) Netanyahu z”l always felt committed to serving in the Israeli Defense Forces. While Yoni enjoyed his studies at Harvard, in which he excelled, he felt increasingly that his place was not there. Israel was in the midst of fighting a “War of Attrition” against Egypt and Jordan, and of combating terrorism in its towns and cities. Consequently, he discontinued his studies in philosophy and mathematics at Harvard and returned to Israel to rejoin the army. Soon after, he was appointed commander in chief of the top commando unit in the Israeli military (where his two younger brothers, Benjamin - Israel’s current prime minister - and Ido, also served). He had previously served in the Six Day War and was badly hurt while helping to rescue a fellow soldier who lay wounded deep behind enemy lines. In the same year he commanded a dangerous operation, in which senior Syrian officers were captured and exchanged in return for captive Israeli pilots. The following year, he parti