Avraham Botzer

Avraham Bozer (1970)

Avraham "Tschita" Botzer ( Hebrew אברהם בוצר; * July 25, 1929 in Poland ; † June 2, 2012 ) was an Israeli Rear Admiral ( Aluf ) who was the 8th Commander in Chief of the Israeli Navy from 1968 to 1972 .

Life

Immigration to Israel and service in Palmach and Navy

Botzer, whose immigration ( Aliyah ) into the League of Nations mandate area for Palestine took place together with his parents in 1936, joined the paramilitary underground organization Palmach in 1946 and took part in operations for them in 1947 to smuggle Jews into the mandate area after the Holocaust . In one of these actions, he was arrested and placed in a detention center for Cyprus recognized , but after two weeks because of his age back to Palestine returned.

After the outbreak of the Palestinian War, Botzer joined the newly founded Navy and remained in military service after the establishment of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948. After his promotion to sea captain ( Aluf Mishne ) in 1952, he took part in numerous naval operations as well as the military interventions during the Suez crisis in autumn 1956. During the Six Day War in June 1967 he was in command of the fleet in the Red Sea that captured Sharm El Sheikh , which was then occupied by Israeli troops until 1982.

Israeli Navy Commander

In September 1968 Botzer was promoted to Rear Admiral ( Aluf ) and succeeded Schlomo Er'ell as commander of the Israeli navy.

During his term of office, which lasted until 1972, the war of wear and tear between Israel and Egypt, also known as the "war of fatigue" , fell from 1968 to 1970 with several important military operations such as Operation Bulmus 6 , which was carried out by the Israeli Special Forces (IDF) on the night of 19 Assaulted July 6th, 1969 against an Egyptian radar early warning system and an ELINT station on a small island in the Gulf of Suez .

During Operation Escort , on September 7, 1969, an Israeli commando blew up an Egyptian torpedo boat on the northern tip of the Gulf of Suez. The IDF believed that this was necessary to carry out Operation Raviv , a highly successful invasion of the west bank of the Suez Gulf. On September 9, 1969, Israeli naval units landed in order to prepare Israeli action against Egypt on the Red Sea.

Finally, on December 24, 1969, the Cherbourg project took place. This involved the escape of five missile speedboats from the French port city of Cherbourg . The boats had already been paid for by the government of Israel but had not yet been delivered because of the French arms embargo of 1969. The entire operation was planned by the Israeli Navy and was also given the code name Operation Noa after the first name of the daughter of the operation's commander, Captain Benjamin "Bini" Telem .

During his time as commanding officer, Botzer helped with the massive rebuilding of the Navy. Until he took office, the navy played a subordinate role after the ground and air troops, before the armed forces were given equal rank during his tenure. Under his command, the Navy acquired three submarines , missile speedboat, corvettes , torpedoes and guided missiles , all of which were essential during the Yom Kippur War in October 1973.

On September 1, 1972, he retired from active military service and was replaced by Benjamin Telem as Commander of the Navy.

After leaving the company, he switched to the private sector and until 1992 was Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Trans-Israel Pipeline, which transports oil from Eilat to Ashkelon via Beersheba . He also studied law and after completing his studies also worked as a lawyer .

Web links

• מת האלוף אברהם (צ'יטה) בוצר . In: Haaretz from June 3, 2012 (page accessed on June 5, 2012)