Ehud Barak was born in kibbutz Mishmar HaSharon in 1942. Soon after his IDF induction, when nearly 18, Ehud Barak was selected for the sayeret matkal elite special operations unit, going from platoon and company leader to its deputy commander and commander. During the 1967 Six Day War he commanded a mobile reconnaissance unit; in the 1969-1970 War of Attrition with Egypt along the Suez Canal he was in charge of an armored company; and during the 1973 Yom Kippur War he directed an armored battalion.
Meanwhile, Barak's secret exploits included leading a squad disguised as airport maintenance men that successfully stormed a Sabena airliner hijacked to Tel-Aviv in May 1972, safely rescuing 97 hostages. A month later, his special operations team reportedly captured five Syrian officers who were on an inspection tour in southern Lebanon. In spring 1973 Barak participated in the daring IDF raid into central Beirut that eliminated three Palestinian extremist leaders masterminding Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) terrorist activities against Israeli, Jewish, and European targets. In 1976 Barak took part in the celebrated Entebbe rescue, and he is believed to have planned the April 1988 assassination in Tunis of Abu Jihad, the PLO's operations chief.
In 1974 Barak was appointed head of the IDF's Tank Commanders Course, and in the next six years he rotated from command of a regular armored battalion, a regular armored brigade, a reserve division and, finally, a regular division.
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