d of military intelligence. “You need to send us,” I said. I tried to persuade him that if it came down to an operation to free our hostages, Sayeret Matkal offered the best hope that it would not end in a bloodbath. We had the mind-set, the background, the training and now the experience. I also knew the

operations I fought in or commanded were without the real danger of not coming back alive. But whatever success I'd had as a soldier, particularly in Matkal, was not only, nor even mainly, about biceps. It was about brains. The ability to make decisions. To withstand the pressure of often having to make t

, killing the driver and a teacher, and injuring 10 of the children. I was called up the night before the Israeli attack, as part of a small Sayeret Matkal contingent which was supposed to play a support role. An enormous pincer operation was mounted around the Fatah camp and Karameh itself: including a

operations I fought in or commanded were without the real danger of not coming back alive. But whatever success I'd had as a soldier, particularly in Matkal, was not only, nor even mainly, about biceps. It was about brains. The ability to make decisions. To withstand the pressure of often having to make t

e, killing the driver and a teacher, and injuring 10 of the children. I was called up the night before the Israeli attack, as part of a small Sayeret Matkal contingent which was supposed to play a support role. An enormous pincer operation was mounted around the Fatah camp and Karameh itself: including a