Muki Betser

Muki Betser was born in 1945 in Nahalal

Moshe "Muki" Betser was born on 14 October 1945 in Nahalal. His grandparents were among the founders of Nahalal, and his father, Nahman Betser, served in the Haganah. The family moved to Haifa when he was four and later settled in Beit She'arim.

Betser joined the IDF in 1964 and volunteered for the Paratroopers. He led a platoon in Sayeret Shaked in the Six-Day War and was badly wounded in the Battle of Karameh. He later joined Sayeret Matkal and took part in the April 1973 raid on Beirut.

In 1974 he founded the Shaldag Unit, first as a Sayeret Matkal reserve company. In July 1976 he was deputy to Yoni Netanyahu in Operation Entebbe and took command after Netanyahu was mortally wounded. Shaldag became a regular unit in January 1977 with Betser as its first commander, and he left regular service in October 1985 as a colonel.

As a civilian he ran a project development company and helped found Neve Ziv. In 1996 he published the book Secret Soldier with Robert Rosenberg. In 2005 he founded a pre-military program near Maagan Michael with Dr. Yossi Leshem.

His first wife, Nurit, died in 1977, and their son Saul also served in Sayeret Matkal. He remarried and lives in Tamrat.