Most old generals like to recall the commands they held and wars and operations they fought in. Benny Gantz has plenty of those, but prefers to talk about his brushes with history.

In interviews he brings up the fact that his first mission as a young conscript in 1977 was as part of the security detail for Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s groundbreaking visit to Israel. Or that in 1991 he commanded the commando unit that was on the ground in Addis Ababa for 36 hours, securing the Operation Solomon airlift of 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel. Or that in 2000, when the IDF ended 18 continuous years of military presence in Lebanon, he was the last soldier to cross the border and shut the gates.

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