Former Sayeret Matkal Commander Uzi Yairi was killed in the Savoy Hotel attack. Credit: GPO
This Thursday, 6 of March, marks 50 years since the deadly Fatah attack on Savoy Hotel in Tel Aviv in 1975 that resulted in the death of eight civilians and three IDF soldiers.
On March 6, 1975 in the late hours of the night two dinghy boats reached the shores of Tel Aviv and on them were two terrorist units who were sent by Khalil Ibrahim al-Wazir, the founder of Fatah also known as Abu Jihad, to carry out a revenge attack for the 1973 Israeli raid on Lebanon, known as Operation Spring of Youth.
The terrorist units were spotted by a police patrol vehicle that happend to pass near the beach. The police officers in the patrol vehicle opened fire on the attackers which led to the explosion of one of the boats which was stocked with weapons.
The terrorists managed to escape the boats and reach the beach. They eventually made their way to the three-story high Savoy Hotel on Geula Street and captured hostages, taking them to the top floor of the building.
The first to arrive at the scene was Private Moshe Deutschmann of the Golani brigade who was on home leave during the time of the attack and ran over to the scene after hearing gunfire. Deutschmann shot at the terrorists with his personal weapon and was mortally wounded as a result of the fire exchange with the terrorists.
Deutschmann later succumbed to his wounds, when taken to the hospital. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Distinguished Service.
A short time after Deutschmann arrived at the scene, as morning approached, the elite Sayeret Matkal IDF unit arrived at the scene. The IDF unit broke into the hotel, saving five hostages. However, eight hostages were killed during the mission. Two IDF soldiers were also killed during the takeover - Sergeant Itamar Ben David (20) and former Sayeret Matkal Commander Uzi Yairi (39).
Moshe Deutschmann
Private Moshe Deutschmann, a soldier from the Israeli army's Golani Brigade who was on home leave at the time, grabbed his weapon and ran to the hotel after hearing gunfire. Meanwhile, some militants attempted to leave the hotel. Deutschmann saw them at the entrance to the hotel and engaged them. In the exchange of fire, Deutschmann was hit. He managed to crawl away, and was later evacuated to Hadassah Medical Center, where he died of his injuries. Deutschmann was posthumously awarded the Medal of Distinguished Service.
Kochava Levy (Jerusalem, 1944 - Hadera, 2019)
Kochava Levy didn’t think she would live to see the morning of March 6, 1975.
Taken hostage by Fatah-aligned terrorists inside the Savoy Hotel in Tel Aviv, Levy was convinced that she would never see her daughter again. “It is clear to me that I will die here tonight in this shabby hotel,” she wrote in her diary.
Levy, a 31-year-old housewife and mother, found herself the unlikely mediator between the terrorists and the IDF team of negotiators stationed outside the hotel.
Using her knowledge of Arabic, Levy from Yemenit origin, relayed messages between the two sides and appealed to the terrorists to release a wounded hostage.
But her heroic role was overshadowed following the attack when Levy – who had been staying in the hotel with a man who was not her husband – was mislabeled by the media as a prostitute. Her heroism and bravery that night was largely forgotten – until now.
The story of Levy’s role in the 1975 terrorist attack at the Savoy Hotel – which resulted in the deaths of eight civilians, three IDF soldiers and seven out of the eight terrorists – came to life, in 2022, in a new hybrid documentary, “Savoy,” from filmmaker Zohar Wagner.
Held hostage by Palestinian terrorists, Levy used her Arabic skills to mediate, assist the IDF, and help rescue a wounded man. Offered a chance to escape, she chose to stay. Credit: IDF ARCHIVE; MOSHE MISHALI
The movie, which premiered at the Jerusalem Film Festival and hits Lev cinemas across Israel this week, intertwines documentary footage, recordings and images from the night of the attack with dramatizations of the scenes inside the hotel. Veteran actress Dana Ivgy (“Zero Motivation,” “Aviva, My Love”) plays Levy, while Ala Dakaa (“Fauda,” “Mossad 101”) portrays the head of the Palestinian terrorist cell.
Source: Yediot Haharonot, Times of Israel
