TNL in Jerusalem #50 - Oath of a Living Legend: Doron Almog the Entebbe Hero

Maj. Gen. Doron Almog speaks on “Tuesday Night Live in Jerusalem” about the battles he took part in as an IDF officer and the battle he led for the benefit of his own son and others. In the second part of the special edition of “TNL,” recorded on Israel’s national Memorial Day, Ari and Jeremy speak with Maj. Gen. Almog, famous for his involvement in the 1976 Operation Entebbe. He was the first commander to land on the runway in Entebbe, marking it for the Israeli planes that followed. He then led the capture of the airfield’s control towers, enabling the Israeli forces to free the hostages held captive in Uganda. Almog was the last to leave Ugandan soil after the successful mission. Another highlight in his prestigious career was the 1984-85 Operation Moses, the clandestine airlift of 6,000 endangered Jews from Ethiopia to Israel. In the above video, Almog also speaks with Ari and Jeremy about recently-killed IDF officer Eliraz Peretz, who once approached Almog because he was debating his future in the army after his brother was killed in service. According to IDF rules, bereaved family members can be released of any combat life-endangering service. Almog also is a bereaved brother and he strengthened Eliraz to do “what his heart told him to.” Almog’s brother Eran was a tank commander killed on the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War. After the tragedy, Almog discovered that, because of the danger to the forces, Eran was abandoned, bleeding to death in the tank. It was that experience that strengthened Almog’s belief in the idea that “soldiers must never be abandoned on the field.” Almog also speaks about his son Eran, who suffered from severe autism and developmental disability, and the Aleh Negev village he founded. Aleh Negev provides residential, medical and social services to the severely handicapped of southern Israel. After Eran’s death at the age of 23 in 2007, Aleh Negev was renamed in his memory, Aleh Negev Nachalat Eran.