Uri Ilan: Difference between revisions
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After the squad was captured, the Minister of Defense [[Pinhas Lavon|Pinchas Lavon]] authorized Chief of Staff Moshe Dayan to hijack a military plane if it crossed the border or approached it, for bargaining purposes. Dayan ordered the Air Force, contrary to Lavon's opinion, to hijack a civilian plane. |
After the squad was captured, the Minister of Defense [[Pinhas Lavon|Pinchas Lavon]] authorized Chief of Staff Moshe Dayan to hijack a military plane if it crossed the border or approached it, for bargaining purposes. Dayan ordered the Air Force, contrary to Lavon's opinion, to hijack a civilian plane. |
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On December 12, the Air Force planes forced A Syrian civilian plane, which was on its way to [[Egypt]] and entered Israeli airspace, to land at [[Ben Gurion Airport|Ben-Gurion Airport]] under false pretenses. On the plane there were ten passengers and crew members. Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs [[Moshe Sharett|Moshe Sharet]] rejected the proposal to use the passengers as bargaining chips for the exchange of captives. |
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In the Syrian prison, they were sent to separate cells and [[torture]]d.<ref>{{cite book|title=Navies in Northern Waters, 1721-2000|publisher=[[Routeledge]]|page=130|year=2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/Features/In-Thespotlight/This-Week-in-History-I-didnt-betray-my-country |title=This Week in History: 'I didn't betray my country' |website=The Jerusalem Post |date=8 January 2012 }}</ref> Believing his comrades to have been killed,<ref name="dover.idf.il"/> as falsely claimed by his captors in an attempt to weaken morale, Ilan hanged himself on 13 January 1955 in his prison cell, using a rope made from the fabric of the mattress cover. In his clothing, Ilan hid nine notes addressed to his homeland, Israel, and his family. The most famous is a scrap of paper on which he wrote the [[Hebrew]] words "לא בגדתי. התאבדתי" (''"Lo bagadeti, hitabadeti"'') which means: "I did not betray. I committed suicide," that is to say, he chose to end his own life so as not to reveal military secrets under torture.<ref name="dover.idf.il"/> |
In the Syrian prison, they were sent to separate cells and [[torture]]d.<ref>{{cite book|title=Navies in Northern Waters, 1721-2000|publisher=[[Routeledge]]|page=130|year=2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/Features/In-Thespotlight/This-Week-in-History-I-didnt-betray-my-country |title=This Week in History: 'I didn't betray my country' |website=The Jerusalem Post |date=8 January 2012 }}</ref> Believing his comrades to have been killed,<ref name="dover.idf.il"/> as falsely claimed by his captors in an attempt to weaken morale, Ilan hanged himself on 13 January 1955 in his prison cell, using a rope made from the fabric of the mattress cover. In his clothing, Ilan hid nine notes addressed to his homeland, Israel, and his family. The most famous is a scrap of paper on which he wrote the [[Hebrew]] words "לא בגדתי. התאבדתי" (''"Lo bagadeti, hitabadeti"'') which means: "I did not betray. I committed suicide," that is to say, he chose to end his own life so as not to reveal military secrets under torture.<ref name="dover.idf.il"/> |
Revision as of 17:21, 8 December 2023
Uri Ilan (Template:Lang-he, 17 February 1935 – 13 January 1955) was an Israeli soldier taken hostage by the Syrians during the Zarzar operation on the Golan Heights[1] and committed suicide in Syrian captivity, after being captured in a covert operation. He became a symbol of courage and patriotism in Israel[2][3].
In a note he left in his shoes which was discovered upon examination of his body, He wrote "I did not betray, I committed suicide", so as not to reveal a military secret. Chief of Staff Moshe Dayan quoted from the note the first words "I did not betray", which became a symbol of personal sacrifice for the sake of the country's security.
Biography
Early life
Uri Ilan was born in 1935 in kibbutz Gan Shmuel. His mother was Fayge Ilanit, a member of the First Knesset[4], and a member of the Mapam faction. Uri was the great-grandson of the famed Talmudic scholar Rabbi Shimon Shkop.
Capture and Suicide
In July 1953, Ilan enlisted in the Golani Brigade. On December 8, 1954, he was sent to an operation (the Zarzar operation) aiming to return a wiretapping device to a telephone line in Syrian territory, near Tel Faher, not far from Kibbutz Dan.
Ilan, together with Lieutenant Meir Mozes, commander of the Golani patrol, joined the squad, which included three paratroopers - Sergeant Meir Jacobi (squad commander), Corporal Yaakov (Jackie) Lind and T.S. Gad Castelnitz. The operation got complicated and the five were discovered and captured. The captives were taken אם Quneitra, and from there they were transferred to Mezzeh prison in Damascus[5], where each of them was held separately.
After the squad was captured, the Minister of Defense Pinchas Lavon authorized Chief of Staff Moshe Dayan to hijack a military plane if it crossed the border or approached it, for bargaining purposes. Dayan ordered the Air Force, contrary to Lavon's opinion, to hijack a civilian plane.
On December 12, the Air Force planes forced A Syrian civilian plane, which was on its way to Egypt and entered Israeli airspace, to land at Ben-Gurion Airport under false pretenses. On the plane there were ten passengers and crew members. Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Sharet rejected the proposal to use the passengers as bargaining chips for the exchange of captives.
In the Syrian prison, they were sent to separate cells and tortured.[6][7] Believing his comrades to have been killed,[5] as falsely claimed by his captors in an attempt to weaken morale, Ilan hanged himself on 13 January 1955 in his prison cell, using a rope made from the fabric of the mattress cover. In his clothing, Ilan hid nine notes addressed to his homeland, Israel, and his family. The most famous is a scrap of paper on which he wrote the Hebrew words "לא בגדתי. התאבדתי" ("Lo bagadeti, hitabadeti") which means: "I did not betray. I committed suicide," that is to say, he chose to end his own life so as not to reveal military secrets under torture.[5] He was buried on 14 January 1955 in Kibbutz Gan Shmuel.
Return to Israel
On 29 March 1956 the four Israeli soldiers who were captured along with Uri Ilan were returned to Israel in exchange for 40 Syrian soldiers.[8]
Ilan's suicide and the notes he left behind set off a great outpouring of grief in Israel, but also a sense of national pride.
References
- ^ "Syria returns the body of a soldier captured in Damascus". Israel Defense Forces. Archived from the original on December 21, 2011.
- ^ Moses Rum; Zev H. Ehrlich (12 January 2005). אורי אילן - מסר נוסף בפתקים [Uri Ilan - More message notes]. Haaretz (in Hebrew). Retrieved 19 August 2014.
- ^ Jonathan Frankel, ed. (1994). Reshaping the Past: Jewish History and the Historians. Studies in Contemporary Jewry. Vol. X. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509355-0.
- ^ Avi Shlaim (2001). The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World. W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-04816-0.
Uri Ilan.
- ^ a b c "Syria returns the body of a soldier captured in Damascus". IDF. Archived from the original on December 21, 2011.
- ^ Navies in Northern Waters, 1721-2000. Routeledge. 2004. p. 130.
- ^ "This Week in History: 'I didn't betray my country'". The Jerusalem Post. 8 January 2012.
- ^ "Timeline: Israeli prisoner exchanges". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2011-09-29.
- 1935 births
- 1955 suicides
- Kibbutzniks
- Israeli soldiers
- Israeli torture victims
- Israeli military personnel who committed suicide
- Suicides in Syria
- Israeli people who died in prison custody
- Prisoners who died in Syrian detention
- People who died by suicide in prison custody
- Israeli people imprisoned abroad
- Torture in Syria
- Israeli prisoners of war
- 20th-century Israeli military personnel
- Prisoners of war held by Syria
- 1955 deaths
- Suicides by hanging