Today, Amir Ofer, who was one of the rescuers of the hostages in Entebbe, wrote:
My friends, today Lt. Col. Arnon Zamora from the YAMAM (Israeli Police Special Unit) was killed in the rescue operation in Nusirat. I wanted to share with you an experience I had with him. I didn't know him. I was at some show at the amphitheater in Mevasseret Zion a few years ago. There were a few thousand people there. Suddenly, a lovely guy approached me, asked if he identified me correctly, and told me that he was an officer in the YAMAM and asked me to come lecture to them about Entebbe. Of course, I agreed. On October 16, 2023, I received a call from him: "I must talk to you." It was his first outing since the war began. I said, "Whenever you say." We talked for two hours. He told me in great detail how they were caught by surprise at the Yad Mordechai junction, how three RPGs missed him by millimeters, how his intuition to stop a few kilometers before the junction and regroup saved the entire force, how they fought like lions. How they reloaded all the magazines four times on the first day and jumped from the junction to Sderot, from Sderot to Ofakim, and from Ofakim to Be'eri, and how they were at the forefront everywhere. And how his heart broke in Be'eri at Pessi's house. And all the time he asked, "How did you succeed and we did not..." I saw before me a man among men, a true hero and an exceptionally moral person. I told him - and I meant every word I said - that there is no comparison between the situations and that even God would not have been able to save the people in Be'eri. He asked what I recommended, and based on the experience we gained in writing "Operation Jonathan in the First Person," I recommended that he take a few days quietly and write down everything that happened to him in the crazy first days of the war. He thanked me very much. I went home, thought about his story, and wrote him a WhatsApp message: "It took me a few hours to digest and process the story. You were real heroes, and you functioned exceptionally well in the most difficult conditions possible. Strategic surprise, tactical surprise, fighting in an area full of civilians, and few against many. It is impossible to produce a more difficult situation even in a simulator. You literally saved the country. You have already secured your place in heaven, and more." He thanked me and wrote back, "Thank you for meeting with me yesterday. It did me good to talk to you 🙏🏻 Take care of yourself." I replied, "You take care of yourself. I have already finished my guarding duties 😰". After a little over a month, he wrote to me: "Know that it helped me a lot to talk to you. I felt like I took rocks off my shoulders. Writing everything down really did me good." I replied, "Happy to help. And one tip now that helped me a lot in Lebanon in 1982 - after such a long period of a month of fighting, the senses are a bit dulled, vigilance decreases, and disdain for the enemy increases. Be careful. Every time, approach each engagement as if it were the first engagement, and for a moment, do not reduce vigilance and do not underestimate these dogs. I also suggest that you sharpen this message to your subordinates." Today I know that he did not need this advice. He knew it even without me. I'm sure he didn't underestimate them today either. We lost a superb fighter. Feel free to share this with anyone you know. This man deserves to be known by everyone in the country.
My friends, today Lt. Col. Arnon Zamora from the YAMAM (Israeli Police Special Unit) was killed in the rescue operation in Nusirat. I wanted to share with you an experience I had with him. I didn't know him. I was at some show at the amphitheater in Mevasseret Zion a few years ago. There were a few thousand people there. Suddenly, a lovely guy approached me, asked if he identified me correctly, and told me that he was an officer in the YAMAM and asked me to come lecture to them about Entebbe. Of course, I agreed. On October 16, 2023, I received a call from him: "I must talk to you." It was his first outing since the war began. I said, "Whenever you say." We talked for two hours. He told me in great detail how they were caught by surprise at the Yad Mordechai junction, how three RPGs missed him by millimeters, how his intuition to stop a few kilometers before the junction and regroup saved the entire force, how they fought like lions. How they reloaded all the magazines four times on the first day and jumped from the junction to Sderot, from Sderot to Ofakim, and from Ofakim to Be'eri, and how they were at the forefront everywhere. And how his heart broke in Be'eri at Pessi's house. And all the time he asked, "How did you succeed and we did not..." I saw before me a man among men, a true hero and an exceptionally moral person. I told him - and I meant every word I said - that there is no comparison between the situations and that even God would not have been able to save the people in Be'eri. He asked what I recommended, and based on the experience we gained in writing "Operation Jonathan in the First Person," I recommended that he take a few days quietly and write down everything that happened to him in the crazy first days of the war. He thanked me very much. I went home, thought about his story, and wrote him a WhatsApp message: "It took me a few hours to digest and process the story. You were real heroes, and you functioned exceptionally well in the most difficult conditions possible. Strategic surprise, tactical surprise, fighting in an area full of civilians, and few against many. It is impossible to produce a more difficult situation even in a simulator. You literally saved the country. You have already secured your place in heaven, and more." He thanked me and wrote back, "Thank you for meeting with me yesterday. It did me good to talk to you 🙏🏻 Take care of yourself." I replied, "You take care of yourself. I have already finished my guarding duties 😰". After a little over a month, he wrote to me: "Know that it helped me a lot to talk to you. I felt like I took rocks off my shoulders. Writing everything down really did me good." I replied, "Happy to help. And one tip now that helped me a lot in Lebanon in 1982 - after such a long period of a month of fighting, the senses are a bit dulled, vigilance decreases, and disdain for the enemy increases. Be careful. Every time, approach each engagement as if it were the first engagement, and for a moment, do not reduce vigilance and do not underestimate these dogs. I also suggest that you sharpen this message to your subordinates." Today I know that he did not need this advice. He knew it even without me. I'm sure he didn't underestimate them today either. We lost a superb fighter. Feel free to share this with anyone you know. This man deserves to be known by everyone in the country.
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