To most people, July 4 immediately brings American Independence Day to mind. For many Israelis, the date is synonymous with the 1976 Entebbe rescue operation, and for others, it also signifies the launch of a permanent memorial and educational site to remind future generations of the supply convoys that broke through the Arab blockades in the 1948 War of Independence to bring food and other provisions to the residents of besieged Jerusalem.
Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Matan Vilna’i has associations with all three dates. As deputy chief of staff, and later as a politician and diplomat, he was on the US Embassy guest lists in Israel and China for Independence Day receptions.
Vilna’i was deputy commander of the Entebbe rescue operation and led the assault team. He is also the chairman of the nonprofit Israel Nature and Heritage Foundation, which is responsible for creating the monument to the convoys whose passage was achieved in bloody battles of the Harel Brigade led by Yitzhak Rabin, who was later chief of staff during the Six Day War of 1967.
Several of the brigade’s timeworn, rusty armored vehicles once lined the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Highway near Sha’ar Hagai. They were moved in 2013 to make way for a new traffic lane and are now in the Sha’ar Hagai Park. The old Turkish Khan at Sha’ar Hagai is being turned into an educational center dedicated to the legendary stories of the convoys.
Vilna’i, who was born in Jerusalem, remembers how as a first-grader, he waited wide-eyed for the convoys to enter the besieged city. The new project will be named for the late Holocaust survivor Avraham Livnat, popularly known as Bondy, who volunteered to be a convoy driver and had an enviable reputation for meeting challenges head-on and overcoming them.
Sha’ar Hagai means “gate to the valley.” In Arabic, it is called Bab el-Wad, which is the name of the haunting folk song, the lyrics for which were written by Israel’s premier warrior-poet, Haim Guri. He died three and a half years ago at age 94 and symbolized the iconic image of the Israeli poet-warrior from the time of King David, with the sword in one hand and the quill in the other.
Members of Livnat’s family, OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Tamir Yadai and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion were expected to attend the event. Lion will not be permitted to use the land in the area to build more high-rise residential complexes because it is legally protected from urbanization.
No sooner will the event be over than Vilna’i will have to turn his mind to commemorating the centenary of Rabin’s birth on March 1, 1922. An entire generation born after Rabin’s death knows that he was assassinated while serving as prime minister, but they may not be aware of his career as defense minister, diplomat and soldier.