Yosef Alon: Difference between revisions

'''Yosef (Joe) Alon''' ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: יוסף (ג'ו) אלון), born '''Josef Plaček''', also known as '''Joe Alon''' (July 25, 1929{{spaced – ndash}}July 1, 1973), was an [[Israeli Air Force]] officer and military attache to the U.S. who was mysteriously shot and killed in the driveway of his home in [[Chevy Chase, Maryland]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Assassins Unknown: CIA, FBI documents provide clues to 1973 killing of Israeli diplomat |url=http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/_national/assassins_unknown |agency=Associated Press |date=June 27, 2007 |access-date=March 2, 2009-03-02}}</ref>

Most of his family was wiped out during [[the Holocaust]], with his parents being murdered at [[Auschwitz]]. Following the war, he returned to Czechoslovakia and attempted to start a career as a jeweler.{{when|date=December 2023}} He then graduated from a [[vocational school]], and then enlisted in the [[Czechoslovak Air Force]], where he successfully completed a pilot course.{{when|date=December 2023}}

Alon married Dvora Alon (née Kirat), a [[Yemenite Jews|Jewish immigrant from Yemen]], onin January 1954.{{clarify|reason=You left him off in Czechoslovak. This was in Israel. So?|date=December 2023}} They had three daughters; Dalia (born 1954), Yael (born 1959), and Rachel (born 1968).

In 1947, he volunteered for the first pilots' course in the [[Sherut Avir]],{{clarify|reason=Born 29, learned this & that,served in ČS airforce (when?!), and THEN volunteered for a rudimentary pilots' course? Did he volunteer while in ČS? And as what, maybe as an INSTRUCTOR? All until 46? 47?, so until age 18 at the most? Nothing makes sense! War changes curricula, but explain! |date= December 2023}} the [[Haganah]]'s nascent air corps. Soon afterward, he moved back to Mandate Palestine, changed his name to Yosef Alon, and upon Israeli independence in 1948, was among the founding members of the [[Israeli Air Force]] (IAF).<ref name=joe>[{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/2.294/who-killed-joe-alon-1.353481 |title=Who killed Joe Alon?] |date=April 1, 2011 |work=Haaretz |first=Yossi |last=Melman |access-date= December 29, 2021}}</ref>

Alon fought in the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]] as a [[fighter pilot]] and early member of the nascent [[Israeli Air Force]]IAF, and would go on to complete 75 missions. In 1953, he became one of Israel's first jet pilots. From 1953 to 1956, he flew [[Gloster Meteor]] and [[Dassault Ouragan]] aircraft in the Air ForceIAF.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

From August 1960 to August 1961, Alon served as a [[Dassault Mystère IV|Mystère IV]] pilot and as Commander of the [[101 Squadron (Israel)|101 Squadron]], which was equipped with Mystère IV aircraft. OnIn November 1961, he returned to command 101 Squadron as the [[Israeli Air Force|IAF's]] first [[Mirage III]] squadron. In 1965, after attending a command and training course in England, Alon went on to head the Air Force safety industry. The highlights of his career in the IAF was the establishment of the Flying Safety branch and the [[Hatzerim Airbase]], which he commanded from 1966 to 1970.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

In 1970, then a [[colonel]], Alon was chosen to be the assistant [[Air attaché|air]] and [[naval attache]] at [[Israeli embassy in Washington, DC|Israel's Embassy in Washington, DC]].<ref>{{cite news |urlfirst1=http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2007/07/01/papers_shed_light_on_envoys_73_killing/ Adam |access-datelast1=2009-03-02 Goldman |first2= Randy |last2= Herschaft |title= Papers shed light on envoy's '73 killing |publisherwork= The Boston NewsGlobe |authordate=AdamJuly Goldman1, and2007 Randy|agency= HerschaftAssociated Press |url= http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2007/07/01/papers_shed_light_on_envoys_73_killing/ |access-date=July 1March 2, 20072009}}</ref> Installed in what should have been a three-year assignment, Alon advocated strongly on Israeli arms procurement, especially regarding the [[F-4 Phantom]].{{citation needed|date=May 2013}} He also established close relationship with the [[American Jews|American Jewish]] community]], assisted with the activities of the [[United Jewish Appeal]], and gave lectures to students on Israel’sIsrael's cause.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

[[File:Grave of Joe Alon.JPG |thumb|right|200px|Alon’sAlon's grave in [[Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery]]]]

On the night of June 30, 1973, 44-year-old Yosef Alon and his wife Dvora went to a dinner party for a departing Israeli embassy staffer.<ref name="TN">{{cite news |first1= Adam |last1= Goldman |first2= Randy |last2= Herschaft |title= CIA, FBI documents provide clues to 1973 killing of Israeli diplomat |date= June 28, 2007 |work= Taiwan News |url= https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/476016 |access-date= December 29, 2021}}</ref> At roughly 12:30&nbsp;am on July 1, the couple entered their [[Ford Galaxie]] and drove home to [[Chevy Chase, Maryland]], arriving about a half-hour later. Dvora exited the vehicle and walked 20-3020–30 feet to their porch, while Alon gathered up his sports jacket on the back seat.[<ref name="TW">{{cite news |first1=Adam |last1=Goldman |first2=Randy |last2=Herschaft |title=Files call for heating up cold case of '73 |date=September 27, 2019 |work= Tulsa World |agency= Associated Press |url= https://tulsaworld.com/archive/files-call-for-heating-up-cold-case-of-73/article_1e66891e-ef64-5bed-bd8a-e69b22d6d224.amp.html]|access-date= December 29, 2021 }}</ref><ref name="TN" />

At this moment, Alon was shot in his chest five times bywith copper-jacketed military bullets withby a foreign-made [[.38 caliber]] [[revolver]], either aan [[Arminius (revolvers)#US imports and rebrands|F.I.E. Titan Tiger]] or a German [[Arminius (revolvers)| Arminius]],.{{dubious |reason= The "F.I.E. Titan Tiger" *IS* an Arminius! Model HW-357. So we have "either A or A". Nonsensical. |date= December 2023}} oneOne shot fatallythat hittingpierced his heart andwould killingsoon himprove instantlyto be fatal, while the other shots caused only minor wounds.[<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |last= Gwertzman |first= Bernard |title= Israeli Attache Shot Dead At Home Near Washington |date= July 2, 1973 |work= The New York Times |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1973/07/02/archives/israeli-attache-shot-dead-at-home-near-washington-israeli-attache.html?_r=0][https: |access-date= December 29, 2021}}</ref><ref name="TW" /tulsaworld.com><ref name="TN" /archive/files-call-for-heating-up-cold-case-of-73/article_1e66891e-ef64-5bed-bd8a-e69b22d6d224.amp.html]> Dvora rushed inside and called the police, seeing only a light-colored car drive away, and then returned to the front yard.[https:<ref name="TW" /><ref name="TN" /tulsaworld.com/archive/files-call-for-heating-up-cold-case-of-73/article_1e66891e-ef64-5bed-bd8a-e69b22d6d224.amp.html]> She attempted with her 18-year-old daughter Dahlia to stem his bleeding with towels.<ref name="TN" /> Alon was taken to a hospital, where he died at 1:27&nbsp;am.<ref name=arutz/>

Alon’sAlon's family accepted President [[Richard Nixon]]’s offer to repatriate Alon’sAlon's body to Israel, throughonboard an [[USAF]] [[C-137 Stratoliner]]. The aircraft left the U.S. from [[Andrews Air Force Base]] in [[Maryland]], arriving at [[Lod Airport]] in [[Tel Aviv]], with his family onboard.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

===RadioPalestinian broadcastclaim===

Later on July 1, the Cairo-based [[Voice of Palestine]]{{dubious |reason= Wrong link, that one was launched in 1998 as Voice of [the] Palestinian Revolution |date= December 2023}} broadcast that "After the assassination of martyr [[Mohammed Boudia]]<ref>Boudia was killed that June 28. For more see [[OperationMossad Wrathassassinations offollowing the Munich Godmassacre]].</ref> at the hands of the Zionist intelligence elements in Paris, Colonel Yosef Alon... was executed... His is the first execution operation carried out against a Zionist official in the U.S."[https:<ref name="NYT" //www.nytimes.com/1973/07/02/archives/israeli-attache-shot-dead-at-home-near-washington-israeli-attache.html?_r=0]>

===InvestigationUS investigation===

[[File:Lahav forest Joe alon center.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The Joe Alon Center, a regional studies institute in the [[Negev]] opened in his honor<ref>{{cite web|title=About the Joe Alon Center |url=http://www.joealon.org.il/Content.aspx?itemId=18 |access-date=2011-09-September 11, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119035500/http://www.joealon.org.il/Content.aspx?itemId=18 |archive-date=January 19, 2012 }}</ref>]]

Dvora Alon died in 1995 without knowing the identity of her husband's killer.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_wires/2007Jun30/0,4675,AssassinsUnknownFamily,00.html|access-date=March 2, 2009-03-02 |title=Family's Long Battle to Find Alon Killer |authorfirst1=Adam |last1=Goldman and |first2=Randy |last2=Herschaft |publisherwork=Fox News |date=June 30, 2007}}</ref>

====Theories====

In his book ''Chasing Shadows'' (Palgrave Macmillan), [[Fred Burton (security expert)|Fred Burton]], former deputy chief of the counterterrorism division of the [[U.S. State Department]]'s [[Diplomatic Security Service]] and Vicevice-Presidentpresident of the private intelligence and consulting firm [[Stratfor]], concluded after a lengthy investigation that Alon's killer was an agent from Black September who was killed by [[Mossad]] in 2011.<ref name=arutz>[http{{cite news |url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspxnews/148704#.UsZhyvRDsjo |title=Was Alon Killed Because He 'Knew Too Much?'] |date=December 10, 2011 |work=Israel National News |first=David |last=Lev |access-date=December 29, 2021 }}</ref>

The documentary film ''Who Shot My Father? The Story of Joe Alon'' by Liora Amir Barmatz aired on the [[Channel 1 (Israel)|firstFirst Channel]] in Israel onin April 2011. The historian [[Uri Milstein]] and Colonel [[Yakov Agassi]] presented a theory which said that Alon had been assassinated because he unwillingly learned about the conspiracy theory (the ''Kissinger plan'') for the [[Yom Kippur War]], which involved collusion between the US, Israel, and Egypt and was designed to allow entry for the US into the region as a "savior" (and future power broker) for both Israel and Egypt by stopping the fighting after previously agreed-upon objectives had been achieved.<ref>{{Citecitation web|url=https://www.counterpunch.org/2012/02/22/what-really-happened-in-the-yom-kippur-war/|title=What Really Happened in the "Yom Kippur" War?|website=CounterPunch.orgneeded|date=22January February 2012|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-152022}}</ref> [[Ezer Weizman]] claimed that "Jo was killed because he knew something he should not know about." The film also claimed that general [[Shmuel Gonen]] had said to journalist [[Adam Baruch]], whichwho wrote in his book that he was killed "by one of our own" because he knew something he should not know about. Professor [[Uri Bar-Joseph|Uri Bar Joseph]] has rejected the theory and the findings.<ref>{{Cite news |date= April 12, 2011 |title= מה שאסור לערוץ ממלכתי |lang=he |newspaper= Haaretz |url= https://www.haaretz.co.il/opinions/1.1170857|title=מה שאסור לערוץ ממלכתי|newspaper=הארץ|access-date=2019-07- July 15, 2019}}</ref>

Due to a lead developed years earlier by journalist [[Adam Goldman]], the FBI reopened the case in January 2017.<ref>{{Cite news |last= Aderet |first= Ofer |title= FBI Reopens Israeli Military Attaché Assassination Case, NYT Reports |date= January 9, 2017 |work= Haaretz |lang=en |url= https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/MAGAZINE-nyt-fbi-reopens-israeli-military-attach-assassination-case-1.5483574|title=FBI Reopens Israeli Military Attaché Assassination Case, NYT Reports|last1=Haaretz|date=2017-01-09|work=Haaretz|access-date=2019-07- July 15|last2=Aderet|first2=Ofer|language=en, 2019}}</ref> The new investigation involves information recently given to an agent by Venezuelan terrorist [[Carlos the Jackal]], that sometime after 1970 three American veterans sympathetic to the Palestinian cause,<ref name=GoldmanCaseRevived>{{cite news |last1last= Goldman |first1first= Adam |title=I Wrote to Carlos the Jackal, and an Israeli's Assassination Case Was Revived |work= New York Times |date= 8 January 2017 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/08/us/politics/carlos-the-jackal-yosef-alon-assassination-israel.html?_r=0 |access-date=10 January 2017|work=New York Times|date=810 January 2017}}</ref> one of them a "prominent former [[Black Panther Party|Black Panther]]," approached Mahmoud Ould Saleh, a [[Mauritania]]-born manager of the Arabic Bookshop on the Rue Saint Victor in the [[Latin Quarter]] of Paris and member of the extremist Palestinian "rejection front" (killed in 1977.)<ref name="PalestinianMilitant">{{cite news |title= PLO Accuses 'zionistZionist Agents' of Killing Palestinian Militant |publisher= JTA |date= 5 January 1977 |url= http://www.jta.org/1977/01/05/archive/plo-accuses-zionist-agents-of-killing-palestinian-militant |access-date= 10 January 2017|publisher=JTA|date=5 January 1977}}</ref><ref name="Bookstore">{{cite news|title=Former PLO Aide Killed Leaving Bookstore|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/01/04/archives/former-plo-aide-in-paris-killed-leaving-bookstore.html|access-date=10 January 2017|publisher=NewYorkTimes|date=4 January 1977}}</ref> Saleh put them in touch with suspected [[ Black September]] militant Kamal Kheir Beik (later killed), known to have managed terror attacks including the 1975 [[OPEC siege]].<ref name=GoldmanCaseRevived/> Every sale of the gun identified as the murder weapon, a .38-caliber revolver, that was sold east of the [[Mississippi]], has previously been identified by the FBI, which is now tracing the purchasers of those guns.<ref name=GoldmanCaseRevived/>{{clarify |reason=And? It's 8 yrs since. |date= December 2023}}

*[[ListLists of unsolved murders]]

[[Category:Israeli Jewsmilitary aviators]]

[[Category:MurdersIsraeli ofmilitary IDF soldierscasualties]]