Nadene Goldfoot
Iddo Netanyahu (Hebrew: עדו נתניהו; born July 24, 1952) is an Israeli physician, author and playwright. Iddo Netanyahu was born in Jerusalem, the son of Cela (née Segal; 1912–2000) and professor Benzion Netanyahu (1910–2012), and spent part of his childhood in the United States. He left studies at Cornell University in 1973 to fight for Israel in the Yom Kippur War.
Iddo Netanyahu served in Sayeret Matkal from 1970 to 1976, Israel's special forces unit, as did both his brothers. He has an M.D. from Hebrew University of Jerusalem School of Medicine and did post-doctoral training at Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, D.C., and Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York City. He works part-time as a radiologist, but dedicates most of his time to writing.
Iddo is a highly intelligent, unassuming radiologist whose greatest achievement my be that he has crafted a prosaic existence out of circumstances that might have impelled a less imaginative man to reach for greatness. Like his oldest brother, Jonathan, a leader of the Israeli commando raid on Entebbe, and his next-oldest brother, Benjamin, Israel's current prime minister, the youngest Netanyahu brother went to an elite American university. Yoni went to Harvard; Bibi went to MIT; and Iddo went to Cornell before returning to Israel to serve in the IDF's Sayeret Markal Commando Unit.
He attended medical school at Hebrew University, and then did a post-doctoral work at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, and at Mt. sinai Hospital in New York in radiology, which is a branch of medicine that often saves lives and is also notably removed from the agony of patients and their families.
Three brothers may remind some people of the role of the Marx Brothers of Chico or Zeppo. Political history is littered with sad stories of siblings who felt compelled to tke up a real or imagined family mantle to the detriment of their own separate human existence, or who wound up destroying themselves to get attention, or to avoid the burden of being someone they plainly were not. Becoming a radiologist--a specialty safely removed from politically damaging malpractice suits---is a much better choice than seeking the spotlight. It's safer, saner, and far more sensible. it says to me that Iddo doesn't mind being alone and likes to seek answers when alone.
It was Bibi who was the middle child, a harder family position to be in. They may feel left out, getting less attention. Iddo, as the baby of the family, probably got the most attention other than the #1 child, the first one, Yoni, who has also died first.
Since 2008, after authoring several books, Netanyahu has been concentrating on playwriting. His plays have appeared worldwide, including off-Broadway in New York, Tel Aviv, St. Petersburg, Moscow and Tashkent, among other cities. Recently, his Worlds In Collision has been picked up by Israel's National Theater Habima in Tel Aviv.
In February 2017 Ms. Bogyay (second left) Hungary’s UN envoy in New York met Iddo Netanyahu (middle with glasses) to discuss the Hungarian translation of his play.
Russian Culture Ministry's decision to put production of Worlds in Collision for free online generates hundreds of thousands of views. This play has become very popular during this coronavirus era.
Netanyahu’s second play Worlds in Collision has at its core meetings between Albert Einstein and Immanuel Velikovsky. The very name of the play is based on Velikovsky’s book of the same title. Iddo explains that ‘this is the struggle between Immanuel Velikovsky, who believes that he found tremendous insight, with his revolutionary theories about the universe and cosmic events and human history, and the scientific world that was against him. The play is based on a true story. Velikovsky was thoroughly castigated and branded by the scientists a charlatan and liar, and his one last hope of redemption was Albert Einstein whom he tries to convince that he is correct in his theories. In some ways, it’s a play about the quest for ultimate knowledge, both by Velikovsky and by Einstein. Is it at all possible to attain? And in what way does public recognition, or conversely severe rejection, play into all this?”
Yoni in uniform, mother, Bibi and Iddo in the red shirt
Iddo Netanyahu had a lot to live up to when he came into the world as his two brothers born before him became very famous. He did alright for himself, obtaining the most education by becoming a doctor. He was the most like his father. These three Netanyahu brothers all grew up to serve in Sayeret Matkal (Special Forces Unit). Youngest brother, Iddo, became an accomplished doctor and author. Yoni (Yonatan) was the hero of the famous Entebbe raid who lost his life rescuing over 100 Israeli hostages. Bibi, as Benyamin was called, has been serving as Prime Minister of Israel for a total of 15 years.
Raised in the home of Benzion and Tzila/Cela Netanyahu filled the young boys with idealism and tremendous potential. But for all of us, like the Netanyahu brothers, it’s what we do with that potential that matters, and they certainly have done just that. Surprisingly, Iddo Netanyahu lives in Hornell, New York. He is married to Dafna, and has two children.
In Independence Day lecture, Dr. Iddo Netanyahu says visits are about national interests, not pity, and exposing anti-Semitism should not be focus of Israel’s overseas PR campaign. He said to stop taking visitors to Yad Vashem first. Leaders do not visit the country to feel pity for the Jewish people, but to explore how connections with the Jewish state could further their own national interests, he said in an online Independence Day lecture about anti-Semitism.
- The Rescuers – published in Hebrew, a collection of short stories
- Yoni's Last Battle: The Rescue at Entebbe, 1976 (2002) – Later re-released as Entebbe: A Defining Moment On The War On Terrorism – The Jonathan Netanyahu Story, published in Hebrew, English, Russian, Chinese, and Italian
- Itamar K. – published in Hebrew, Russian and Italian, a novel about music and life, ironic and poetic
- Sayeret Matkal at Entebbe – published in Hebrew, documents and interviews about the raid
- A Happy End – published in Italian, drama, with the title "Un Lieto Fine," and in English by Playscripts, Inc.
Plays A scene from A Happy End that takes place in Berlin at the end of 1932 and early 1933. It is set against the backdrop of the rapidly changing atmosphere in Germany, around the time of Hitler’s rise to power and the inability of some middle-class educated Jews to read the writing on the wall.
- A Happy End - a Jewish family living in Berlin, contemplating the meaning and consequences of the recent rise of the Nazis
- Worlds In Collision - a battle of the minds between Albert Einstein and Immanuel Velikovsky
- Meaning - the relationship between the renowned psychiatrist Viktor Frankl and a patient of his, against the backdrop of the Holocaust
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