Dr. Ephraim Sneh
Politician, physician and retired general, 669 unit
Israel
English, Hebrew
Sneh studied medicine at Tel Aviv and returned to military service as a doctor.
In the Yom Kippur War, he commanded a medical unit of the brigade in the Battle of The Chinese Farm and battles west of the Suez canal. Sneh commanded the medical unit at Operation Entebbe, and Yonatan Netanyahu died in his arms.
His last role in the IDF was as head of the civilian administration of the West Bank.
In 1992 Sneh was elected to the Knesset, serving as Minister of Health from 1994 to 1996.
In 1999 he was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense
In 2001 he was appointed Minister of Transportation.
669 unit
In 1978, Sneh established the elite IAF Airborne Rescue and Evacuation Unit (669) and was its commander until 1980.
Operation Entebbe
In 1976, in one of the most daring and dramatic anti-terror operations in Israel's history, Sneh commanded the medical team that participated in the liberation of more than one hundred Israelis held hostage in the Entebbe Airport in Uganda, 2,200 miles from Israel.