Shabtai Ben-Shua

Son of Berta and Shlomo, Holocaust survivors. He was born on December 10, 1946 in a DP camp in Italy. On the way to Israel, he was sent with his parents to Cyprus and from there immigrated with them to Israel in 1948. The family lived in the Hadar neighborhood of Haifa, where he attended elementary school A. After graduating from high school in Haifa, he had a talent for painting, played basketball for the Maccabi Haifa team, and was a member of the Scout movement until he enlisted in the army. After basic training he was sent to an aviation course and was trained as a navigator. As a navigator he flew on the ‘Nord’ Votor ‘and’ Phantom ‘planes. During the Six-Day War he participated in the bombing of the Luxor airfields. In the Yom Kippur War he was saved from death when a missile hit his plane over Egypt, and he fell in enemy territory. While he was wounded, he found shelter and waited for his escape. His fellow pilots rescued him by helicopter and took him to a hospital. In 1966 he volunteered for the career army and held various command and staff positions in the IAF. He was the head of the photography department in the operations department at the air force headquarters, the squadron commander, the head of the air force cadre department in the officers ‘department, and the head of the officers’ department. In April 1984 he was awarded the rank of colonel. Afterward he completed his studies at the National Security College and was appointed commander of the IAF base. In the summer of 1987, he was appointed as the IDF’s military attache in Ecuador, and the following are some of his commanders’ assessments: “An excellent officer, very popular around him.” “Very high potential, capable of thinking, expression and creativity.” Working very hard. “He has a sense of humor and stands out very well in society.” During his service he married Rachel, who built their home in Haifa and then in Ramat Hasharon, where their son Itamar was born in 1975 and four years later their daughter Daniela was born. Industrial Engineering and Management at the Technion, and completed his master’s degree in business administration from Tel Aviv University on June 3, 1988. As an IDF attache in Ecuador, Shabtai fell in the line of duty and was brought to the military cemetery in Haifa . He left behind a wife, son, daughter, parents and brother – Yehuda. The commander of the IAF, Major General Avihu son of-Nun, eulogized him: “Shabtai, a friend, a commander and a courageous fighter, your way was an example of an air fighter. The Six-Day War, the Yom Kippur War and the Peace-Galilee War, you were hurt, abandoned, but you always returned to us in peace with that smile that you can not forget, as a personal example in the air, in the squadron, in your studies and in society, We have no consolation. “