Israeli war hero to share experiences at military lit fest
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 11
A war decorated Israeli General, who had cut short his honeymoon in Nepal, to answer a call to arms would be participating in the Military Literature Festival and talking about his battle experiences.
Then a Lieutenant Colonel during the Yom Kippur War in October 1973, Maj Gen Yosi Ben-Hannan was awarded the Medal of Courage, Israel’s second highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy. This is for the first time that an Israeli military officer would be speaking at the festival.
In 1973, while on his honeymoon in Nepal, Ben Hannan heard of the outbreak of the war and returned to Israel and proceeded to the Golan Heights where he participated in fierce fighting with the Syrians. He was wounded but refused to be evacuated and continued fighting.
According to available excerpts of the battle, on October 9, Ben-Hannan took command of a scratch force of Israeli tanks that had been put together from the remnants of the decimated 188th Armored Brigade. He led his outfit in a desperate battle against overwhelming numbers of Syrian T-62 tanks and restored the tactical situation but at the cost of most of his command. His own Centurion tank was tank was hit by an anti-tank missile, wounding him for a second time in the battle. He was later rescued from behind enemy lines by Israeli special forces.
