"Apprehending a sheikh from a hostile village to clarify the fate of one navigator": 32 years after the heroic operation in Lebanon

The former deputy commander of the IDF's top Elite unit, the "General Staff Patrol" was interviewed on 103FM about Operation "Elem Hamoudot", in which the elite unit abducted a senior Hezbollah member in an attempt to gather information about Ron Arad.

"A great operational achievement, but for the purpose for which it was intended - it did not succeed (in finding info on Ron Arad, whose fate is still unknown after all these years)." 

Journalist Yinon Magal, who took part in the operation as a young soldier from the unit: "I fired two shots at the wall that were published all over the world."

Former Deputy General Patrol Commander Aviram Halevi was interviewed today (Thursday) on Yinon Magal and Ben Caspit's program on 103FM marking the 32nd anniversary of "Operation Elem Hamoudot", in which the elite unit abducted senior Hezbollah Sheikh 'Abd al-Karim Obeid from Lebanon - in an attempt to gather information On the fate of Ron Arad. Magal, who was a fighter in the patrol, also took part in the operation. 

Speaking of Sheikh Obed, he said:

"In the end, you can not guarantee what he will say. But the very fact that the State of Israel - to find out the fate of one navigator - does these deeds, pulls a man out of his bed in the middle of Lebanon in a hostile village, operations like this do not exist in any other country."

"I accept that," Halevy replied, "I emphasize the duality because in the end they ask why the purpose. It was a successful operation because to bring a very large force, a few dozen fighters to a crowded village, a five-story building without being discovered and without anyone - not a dog or a passerby noticing."

The former deputy commander further clarified that "it was a great operational achievement, and the ability to enter the same apartment in several openings at the same time in order to maximize the surprise, it was really an operation with very high adrenaline."

Halevy also told about the two shots that Magal fired to deter the neighbors in the building. "I did not shoot people," Magal noted, "I told them to sit down and they did not sit down, and the instructions were if they did not sit down, to shot warning shots.

"Look how much damage you did," Ben Caspit said. 

"Halevy then added that "the shootings woke up the whole village and every guy who has a weapon under the bed took it out and randomly started firing."

"We are the strongest force in the field at any given moment so it is not scary, you have a tremendous force with top capabilities. Dozens of people with weapons not terribly far from the border, 15 kilometers on foot or 10 minutes flight, so if necessary - call a helicopter and go out." 

Ben Caspit replied, "You explain it in a way I have never heard. We are not the 'underdog,' we are the 'superpower.'" 

"Obviously",Halevy concluded without bragging.