The Yom-Kippur war started at noon , October 6th, 1973, with the combined assault of the Egyptian and Syrian military forces against Israeli forces on the Suez Canal in the south and the Golan Heights in the north. With the declared intention of avenging the disgrace of 1967, Arab forces surprised the unready IDF and won a number of initial victories. Following Syrian attacks on Israeli population centers such as Migdal-Ha'emek on October 8th and the failure of the IAF to destroy the SAM arrays on the Golan Heights (a single battery destroyed with the loss of 6 jets), the Israeli government decided to strike strategic and economic centers with the hope of passing the message across to the Syrians : The IAF was ready and able to surpass the SAM barriers while physically and morally disrupting Syrian operations. Such strikes, furthermore, were likely to cause the Syrians to divert some of their SAM batteries from the Golan Heights to rear positions in order to protect their installations, thereby easing the pressure on aircraft battling the Syrians on the front. The first targets chosen were the Syrian General Command building and the ajoining Syrian Air Force Command , located in the heart of Damascus.
16 F-4 Phantoms assembled from two IAF F-4 squadrons were allocated to the mission, planned overnight and led by Major Arnon Lavushin, deputy commander of the 119th "Atalef" (Bat) squadron. After taking off and achieving fomation in complete radio silence, the aircraft turned towards Damascus at a low height needed to avoid early detection. While weather was still fair over Israel, it got worse with the advance into Syria, with heavy clouds and turbluence making navigation, formation, and low level flight very difficult, endangering safety and the element of surprise. Navigation soon became nearly
impossible and abortion seemed like the only option when Major Lavushin broke radio silence in order to push his team onwards. This soon paid off when a break was sighted in the clouds and the planes corrected their path, having flown a little off course. The Phantoms appeared over Damascus in complete surprise and except for a single
shoulder launched SAM, no anti-aircraft fire was directed against the incoming bombers until after the first bombs had already hit their targets.
The 8 Phantoms of the first formation entered their bombing runs - coming in at low height, sharply pulling up, fliping onto their backs and diving into their
targets - each plane releasing 5 tons of ammunition and then pulling away, evading the heavy anti aircraft (AA) fire that now erupted and making their way back to
Israel. With the element of surprise gone, the defences of the Syrian capital came to life, filling the sky with cannon fire. One Phantom was hit, the pilot, Dov Shafir, losing his
life while the navigator, Yaacob Yaacobi, ejecting and falling into Syrian hands. A second aircraft was also hit, damaging one of the wings and an engine, and was escorted back to Israel so that the
pilot and navigator could eject there. This proved to be unneccessary and the plane safely landed in Ramat-David AFB.
The second formation of 8 Phantoms had not made it to Damascus - the break in the clouds had closed and a prepared Syrian air defence was deemed too big a threat. The upper floors of the Syrian General Command were damaged as well as the Air Force Command, forcing them to move to alternate locations. Another target hit (by accident) was a nearby Soviet cultural center. For leading the perilous mission and saving the stricken Phantom, Major Lavushin received Israel's second highest wartime decoration - the Medal of Valor.
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