Survive and Tell (cont.)

About two months after he arrived at R&D, Shlomo called me for a personal chat. Contrary to the last conversation, he explained how important it was that I leave for Washington and that, finally, there would be a serious person who will return matters that had been interrupted to course, mainly in view of Dr. Kissinger's reassessment. Indeed the date for my appointment was set for 1.6.76 but he wished me to leave by 1.3.76 at the latest so that the job could be handed over in an orderly fashion and not suffice with only one month as customary, because this was the most important attaché job.

This time, Shlomo complimented me, my achievements at the R&D as Head of Electronic Systems And Electronic Warfare – he even hinted that he had not forgotten our friendship at the Technion where we had both suffered, etc. I did not believe the sincerity of his compliments, but being that this arrangement had been my wish and was in my interest, I did not respond to his words.

I only thanked him and promised that I would make every effort and more to make sure he would not regret his decision. Shlomo wrote the minutes of the conversation on a piece of paper (which I still possess) and asked me to copy it out in my writing. He gave his paper to me and kept my paper. It did not matter that he was not able to bring my journey forward, just as long as I received the position.

The main reason that he changed his mind to send me to the States came from the Signal Corps. Colonel Ya'acov Ba'al Shem was not happy with Israel Zamir's appointment as Chief Signal and Electronics Officer, a position that he himself had hoped to receive.

Ya'acov Ba'al Shem (Yavesh) was considered to be Shlomo Inbar's ally and, apparently, Shlomo owed him and had decided that it was time to settle the debt. He decided to appoint the "Yavesh" instead of me, to release me from R&D and appoint me "Senior Assistant Defense Attaché for R&D" in Washington. Yavesh arrived at the R&D at the end of January 1976, after he had been at home for a number of months. I transferred the job to him during February 1976. Till then, Yavesh had had no interest whatsoever with regards to electronic warfare but, being that it concerned electronics, he wasn't too concerned about working within this sphere. However, he was petrified with regards to optronics. This sphere was particularly advanced in the Ordnance Corps and he was not on very good terms with this corps.

This subject was very close to my heart and I had wanted to transform this sphere into an independent department for a long time, in order to grant the issue appropriate consideration within the R&D array. This was the perfect chance that I had been waiting for. We brought Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Rosen from the Air Force, a pleasant scientist who had been educated and brought up in France, a dedicated and serious man who loved optronics. Jonathon established the optronics department within the optronics branch that I had gradually instituted at the R&D Electronic Systems and Electronic Warfare Department. The establishment of this department was perfect timing and Yavesh, without meaning to, had made a significant contribution to this. When I refer to optronics, I will tell you about another incident that occurred, which will perhaps shed light on the various other issues that we dealt with.

Brainstorming

In August 1973, terrorists attempted to attack an El Al plane in Rome, according to a method that was unknown up to that time. A terrorist sat on one of the roofs, not far from the Leonardo De Vinci International Airport, holding a "Strela" antiaircraft shoulder launched missile.

This rocket zoned in on the target via a thermal sensor. Planes are very vulnerable during takeoff and landing and the rocket, although not always sophisticated enough to hit a Boeing 747 in flights, could have been dangerous.

The persons in charge of the security of El Al planes approached the R&D and we, Arieh Lavi and myself, decided to convene experts and scientists from all the various spheres that we could think of and hold a brainstorming session.

The Chief Pilot and Chief Engineer of El Al described all facets of the takeoff and landing procedures, and other sensitive areas. RAFAEL personnel and Intelligence technical experts explained and described the way in which the rocket worked and the relevant parameters. We then gave carte blanche to those present to present to us their ideas, even the craziest of them. We registered everything on a large board. We filtered through the ideas and one of the ideas that was withdrawn had been presented by Prof. Joe Yafeh from "Rehovot Instruments"

Joe suggested adding a small vertical wing at the end of each wing of the plane, and placing a strong burner on the upper end of the wing for the exact wavelength of the sensitivity of Strela missile. The burners on the end of the wings would only be operated during takeoff and landing. The Chief Engineer of El Al rejected this idea claiming that these little wings could hamper the performance of the plane, in view of aerodynamic problems that could occur and the customers could find the strange concoction on the plane alarming. The discussion continued and a number of potential solutions were chosen.

I won't refer to all the details in view of the sensitivity of the issue. I had forgotten the case concerning Prof. Yafeh's suggestion and the El Al's Chief Engineers vetoing of the idea.

A few years later, while I was at attaché mission in Washington, the Chief Engineer of El Al came to see me to inform me that, in spite of the fact that he had vetoed Dr. Yafeh's idea, he had passed it on to Boeing for their consideration. To his great surprise, it turned out that, not only did it not hinder the aerodynamics of the plane it enhanced the performance. He also showed me pictures of some of the newest planes being designed with the vertical wings. The Chief Engineer came to me to find out who had suggested this "crazy" idea in order to offer him his apologies. The lesson I learned from this story was that ideas should not be vetoed just because they do not seem feasible at that very moment.

Years later, I saw a film on the subject of aviation which showed a bird curling its wings upwardly in order to improve flight performance. So, this was nothing new. Nature, or evolution, had improved the birds' performance by curling the wings.

Finally in Washington

I left for Washington at the beginning of May in order to arrive at the beginning of June. I took one month's leave on the way, because I really needed a break and a rest and because I wanted to travel a little in Europe. I flew to Frankfurt for a few days, and stayed with some acquaintances of mine. I traveled around Frankfurt and the suburbs with the help of my host's chauffeur in their Mercedes. From Frankfurt, I took the train and stayed in Bonn for a few days with an ex neighbor of mine, Eli Doron, who was serving there as the military attaché. I traveled with Eli to an air show in Hannover, where I met my brother, David. After a tour of Hannover and Bonn, I returned to Frankfurt where I bought myself the suits that I wore throughout my service in Washington and later on. From Frankfurt, I flew to Amsterdam where I bumped into my brother again. I toured the usual tourist attractions in Amsterdam and the suburbs. I flew on to Paris for a few days, then to London and, finally, I entered Washington with my diplomatic passport.

I was met in Washington by Ya'acov Granot, who invited me to live with him in order to help me become "adjusted" to the life there. He had planned an extensive tour of this enormous city for me in order to pass on all of the close contacts he had made during his four years of tenure. Ya'acov was a very organized person. He had thought of every detail and considered himself to be a genius and a success. Generally speaking, he had acquired a wealth of information and contacts and it was very convenient for me to absorb as much as possible. In spite of his arrogant attitude, which annoyed Rivka, who was also angry with me for ignoring it, I am happy to note that he executed the transfer of duties in a perfect manner and did not keep the professional data to himself. I did not mind his arrogance. I knew that it was similar to a kind of flu; there was nothing you could do about it but let it pass in time. This was the case with Ya'acov. He returned to Israel and I stayed in Washington with a significant accumulation of vital data. (I am a survivor).

I left Israel and, as usual, Rivka stayed behind to take care of the house and the children. Anat was serving in the Air Force. I exercised my rights, as someone who had served in the Air Force, to place her in the Air Force, at Hatserim, so that she would be near Neomi, Rivka's sister, who lived in Omer. When I reached Washington, I registered Ofra, who was 15 years old, at a Jewish girls' summer school, Camp Louise. The camp was located in the mountains, not far from the famous Camp David. Ofra traveled by herself to New York and was a little overwhelmed at the sheer size of it. We flew to Washington and, from there, I drove her to the summer school. The aim was for her to study English. No body had done such a thing beforehand and I do not know if this was a successful experience. I think that it was, because I did the same with Inbal. Rivka and Inbal joined us in the middle of July. We stayed for a few days at a hotel till the Granot family vacated their apartment.

On July 4^th 1976, the bicentennial year of the Independence of the USA, we went to watch the impressive parade from the diplomat's podium. Each year the parade is an attraction, full of rhythm and brilliant colors, but the bicentennial parade outshone all the other parades. This was a civilian parade, mostly made up of youth in colorful costumes, orchestras from all of the States and a number of army units.

On July 4^th 1976, the news arrived with regard to the "Entebbe" mission, the release of the passengers of the hijacked French plane. I received the news from the orderly at the embassy and heard it on the news bulletins. The news of the great success of the "Entebbe" mission spread around the world and gained immense admiration from all, especially in the USA. It was again an honor to be an Israeli.

The Entebbe mission, or as it was called "Jonathon's Mission", finally put an end to the "Reevaluation" policies set by Kissinger, following the Yom Kippur War. The attachés were requested to lecture about this mission at various forums, both formal and informal, Jewish and others. We had a set of slides that we would show, upon which the word "Secret" was written, but, in my estimation, there was nothing secret about them after the execution of the operation. With the aid of these slides, we aroused the imagination and admiration of entire communities, we increased the circle of supporters of Israel and gave them a reason to be proud to be Jewish and to be part of a nation that executed a near legendary action.

On July 4^th, in honor of the bicentennial, there were many celebrations and parades to commemorate this historical event. In New York there was a naval review with representatives of the nations sailing on ships and sailing boats. Israel sent the missile boat fleet. Many were invited to participate in the naval review on the plane carrier, in which the President Ford was to sail. Amongst those invited was our military attaché Major General Avraham Adan (Bren). On the deck of the aircraft carrier he was approached by many dignitaries, such as the Navy Commander, the Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger and others, who congratulated him. Bren kept asking himself how all these important knew that he had just become a grandfather. Bren, who had not heard the news or had a chance to be in contact with the embassy, did not know that the congratulations he was receiving were in honor of the "Entebbe" mission.

After the naval review in New York, our missile boats sailed by. The missile boats had sailed all the way from Israel to the Baltimore Port in record time. They were a great attraction for all the residents of the area and especially for the Jews who came from far and wide to encounter an Israeli sailor on a missile boat that had beaten the Syrian and Egyptian navies during the Yom Kippur War. We, the military attaches, invited officers from all the services to visit the missile boats.

It was, as far as I am aware, one of the few times that the Air Force personnel and the American ground forces had ever been on a battle ship of any kind, but every person that we invited honored and visited us. While we were enjoying ourselves participating in the American Independence Day festivities, a team of workmen was painting the interior of our house.

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