Shlomo Erell

Shlomo Erell (; 20 November 1920 – 20 November 2018) was an Israeli military officer who was a Major General in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and the seventh Commander of the Israeli Navy.

Among the first recruits of the nascent Israeli Navy, Erell commanded the Palmach patrol boat during the 1948 Palestine war, leading an attack on the German aviso Grille near Lebanon. After the war, he rose up the ranks of the IDF, taking several command roles in the Navy and serving as Israel's military attaché to several European countries. He played a key role in the development of Israel's missile boats, convincing German shipbuilders to send modified Jaguar-class fast attack craft to Israel which were later converted to missile boats.

He was appointed Commander of the Israeli Navy in 1966. During his term, he oversaw the Navy's activities in the Six-Day War and the opening of the War of Attrition. Three major naval disasters occurred under his tenure, namely the sinking of the INS Eilat by Egypt, the USS Liberty incident, and the disappearance of the . He retired from the IDF in 1968, joining the Likud party and serving as an advisor for Israeli officials on naval affairs.

Early life

Erell was born as Shlomo Engel in Łódź, Poland, on 20 November 1920 to Haim, a wealthy businessman, and Frida Engel. The family immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1927 and settled in Petah Tikva. Haim was killed in a car accident shortly after they arrived, and Erell's family then moved to Tel Aviv, where he was raised solely by his mother. Erell attended Geula High School and joined the Betar youth movement. At 16, Erell established a small underground organization with school friends called Brit Noar Hameri, which aimed to expel the British from Palestine. He later recounted his experience in an interview, stating: "We believed that we should do something [against the British Mandate]. So, we stole some pistols… we threw a few bombs… it was all very childish". The group was disbanded shortly after.

Between 1936 and 1938, Erell attended the Betar Naval Academy in Civitavecchia, Italy.

In 1944, he was hired to direct naval cargo at a factory belonging to the Palestine Potash Company at what is now the Dead Sea Works, where he and his family lived until it was evacuated during the 1948 Palestine War. He commanded the INS Palmach patrol ship during the war, which was involved in operations that included raids behind enemy lines in the northern Sinai Peninsula, the transportation of agents to the coast of Beirut, and shelling of the Gaza Strip. By the end of the war, he commanded the Haganah corvette.

He was the IDF attaché in Italy and the Navy attaché in western Europe in 1955. In 1956, he attended the British Army's Staff College, Camberley, in the UK, and returned the following year, establishing the similar Naval Training Course for navy officers.

When the Six-Day War broke out in June 1967, after Egypt and Syria launched a simultaneous attack on Israel, Erell had been in Europe, and returned to Israel to participate in the conflict. Erell convinced the General Staff to increase the number of missile boats in the navy's arsenal to 12 to allow it to manage both fronts. Using Saar-class corvettes, the Navy conducted near-nightly attacks on Syrian ports. Erell, credited with this achievement, participated in one of the last naval sorties of the war. At one moment, four Styxes were seen heading towards Erell's ship at the Port of Tartus, but ended up striking decoys instead. Erell blamed his deputy, Izzy Rahav, claiming that Rahav's impulsiveness led him to order an attack on the spy ship after it was mistaken for an Egyptian vessel. Erell and Izzy Rahav had traded accusations over each other's perceived poor performance during the war. Rahav accused Erell of "project[ing] hesitation and doubt". On 5 June 1977, he told the Associated Press that "No one would ever have dreamt that an American ship would be there. Even the United States didn't know where its ship was. We were advised by the proper authorities that there was no American ship within 100 miles."

Erell presided over the opening of the War of Attrition in 1967. An unsuccessful search lasting a month followed, which recovered no signs of the missing submarine. Erell criticized the effort, stating that it unnecessarily raised the hopes of the victims' families that their bodies would be recovered, while questioning whether the submarine was even lost in the area being searched. The wreckage of the submarine was only recovered in 1999. In August, Erell said that the Navy's primary goal since the Six-Day War was to patrol the southern Mediterranean up to Port Said to prevent any naval infiltration into Israel.

Erell retired from the IDF in September 1968, and was replaced by Avraham Botzer.

Post-military life After retiring, Erell worked in several maritime industries. He also received a master's degree in administration from Columbia University. In the 1970s, he became a member of the Likud party and from time to time he was brought in by Israeli leaders as an advisor of naval issues. Between 1984 and 1988, he served as the Comptroller of the Defense System.

Personal life and death Erell's wife, Sarah, died in 2013. His daughter, Ghilia, also died in 2000, and his son, Udi, is a reserve general in the Navy. Erell also had five grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. He died in Tel Aviv on 20 November 2018, on his 98th birthday. He was buried at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery.

Published works Erell, Shlomo (2000). Diplomacy in the Depths of the Sea. Ma'ariv Publishing.