In the early 1960s, Israel faced a growing threat from its neighbors. The MiG-21, the Soviet Union’s most advanced fighter jet, which was introduced in 1960, was the backbone of Arab air forces, particularly in Egypt, Syria, and Iraq. Israeli pilots had never encountered this aircraft in combat, and intelligence on its capabilities was scarce. If war broke out, Israel needed an advantage—something that would turn the tide in the skies.

The mastermind behind the operation was Meir Amit, the head of Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency. Amit was known for his audacious strategies, and he understood that acquiring a MiG-21 would give Israel a vital edge. The plan was endorsed by Prime Minister Levi Eshkol and Major General Mordechai “Mottie” Hod, the commander of the Israeli Air Force. style="padding-left: 10px;"

But how do you steal a top-secret fighter jet? The answer lay in Munir Redfa, an Iraqi Air Force pilot. Munir Redfa, born in 1934 in Baghdad, felt alienated due to his Christian heritage and had grown disgusted with orders to bomb Kurdish villages. Mossad operatives approached him with an offer: defect to Israel, bring the MiG-21, and secure a new life for himself and his family and of course with a million dollars.

After months of secret meetings, Redfa agreed. His family was smuggled out of Iraq before his flight to ensure their safety. Then, on August 16, 1966, Redfa took off on a routine training mission—but instead of returning to his base, he veered toward Israel.

As Redfa flew toward Israeli airspace, Jordanian radar picked up the rogue aircraft. Alarmed, Jordanian authorities issued alerts to nearby air traffic control stations, and two Jordanian Hawker Hunter jets were scrambled to intercept him. But Redfa was flying at over 9000 meters and at high speed, making it nearly impossible for them to catch him. To make matters more confusing, Iraq failed to respond to Jordan’s inquiries, and Syria falsely claimed responsibility for the aircraft, reassuring Jordan that it was part of a training mission. This miscommunication allowed Redfa to cross Jordanian airspace unchallenged.

As Redfa entered Israeli airspace, he was met by two Dassault Mirage III jets from the Israeli Air Force, which escorted him safely to Hatzor Air Base. Upon landing, Redfa was immediately taken into protective custody, and the MiG-21 was secured for examination.

For Mossad, this was a triumph. Israeli engineers and pilots wasted no time studying the aircraft, uncovering its weaknesses and strengths. The MiG-21 proved to be a goldmine of intelligence. Israeli specialists dissected its technology, learning its flight dynamics, weapon systems, and vulnerabilities. When war erupted in 1967, Israel’s newfound knowledge played a crucial role in achieving air superiority. Israeli pilots used their insights to outmaneuver and destroy dozens of enemy MiG-21s, ensuring dominance over the skies during the Six-Day War. But the significance of Operation Diamond extended beyond Israel. The United States, eager to understand Soviet aviation technology, was granted access to study the aircraft. The insights gained helped U.S. defense planners develop tactics against Soviet-built jets in future conflicts, marking a strategic victory in the Cold War.

After his defection, Redfa lived in Israel for a time before eventually settling in another Western country. He passed away in 1998 due to a heart attack. His MiG-21 remains on display at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim, a testament to one of Mossad’s most daring operations.

By Oren Rozen - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11051235

Let us begin with a joke.

A CNN reporter, a BBC reporter and an Israeli commando are captured by ISIS in Syria. The terrorist leader told them he would grant them any last request before they were beheaded. The CNN reporter said, "Well, I'm American, so I would like one last burger with fries." The leader instructed an aide to bring a burger and fries. The reporter ate it and said "Now, I can die."
The BBC correspondent said, "I want to take out my tape and describe the scene here and what's going to happen. Maybe one day someone will hear it and know I was on duty until the end."
The ISIS leader ordered the aide to hand over a tape and dictated some remarks. The reporter then said, "Now I can die knowing I stayed true to the end."
The ISIS leader then turned to the Israeli commando and said: "And now, Mr. tough Israeli guy, what is your last wish?"
"Kick me in the ass," the soldier said.
"What?" The leader asked, "Are you joking with us in your final hour?"
"No, I'm not kidding. I want you to kick me in the ass," the Israeli insisted.
So the terrorist leader pushed him into an open area and kicked him in his ass. The soldier fell over, but rolled to his knees, pulled out a 9mm pistol from under his shirt and shot the leader dead. He jumped into his bag, pulled out an Uzi machine gun and shot the rest of the terrorists.
"Why didn't you just shoot them at the beginning? Why did you ask them to kick your ass first? "
"What?" The Israeli replied, "And that you will report that I started and I am the aggressor?"

And why am I telling you this? Good thing you asked because it is a result of things I hear on social media. So let’s embark on our story of the day. 

Now let's dive into today's story. We all remember that there was a another war of survival in our area in 1967 and if you didn’t know, well now you do. The biggest losers were the Egyptians who once again lost control of the entire Sinai Peninsula but it doesn’t really matter as they got everything back again, but that's not the point.

On May 22nd, 1967, Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran and once again blocked the entry of ships on their way to Israel. Déjà vu? After all, in 1956 they did the same thing and the Sinai War broke out. But in June 1967, 14 innocent cargo ships from 8 different countries, entered the Suez Canal on their way north but no one bothered to pick up the phone and warn them that war was about to break out. Now as you now know a war broke out and the Egyptians lost all of a Sinai and finally decided to close the canal, there was no entry and no exit.

So the ships had to dock at a lake called the Great Bitter Lake. They waited there for the war to end. Well this was a short war but they suddenly realized that Egypt was not reopening the canal. "Let us go home" they cried out, but Nasser, the President of Egypt had other plans, the ships were hostages of 8 countries: England, West Germany, Poland, Sweden, Bulgaria, France, USA and Czechoslovakia and why not try to blackmail some of these countries.

The truth is that I do not know if that happened and maybe just telling stories but the fact is that Nasser did not release the ships and Sadat who replaced Nasser also didn’t release them, so they must have had a reason. In essence Egypt only controlled the western side and Israel occupied the eastern side. In practice it was possible to operate the canal together but this was not realistic as it would also allow ships going to Israel to use the canal and it would add salt to their wounds of their great loss and in addition, heaven forbid that an Arab state would cooperate with Israel?

The trapped ships were quite active during the war, using their boats to help Egyptian soldiers who fled Sinai and the doctor on the Polish ship treated about 400 wounded soldiers, very nice of them. There were also about 200 passengers on the ships and at the end of June they were allowed to return home and in August the crews on all the ships were replaced.

Now we have a problem and anyone who has gone through a real lockdown, like Israel’s first Corona lockdown, knows what it is like to be imprisoned in the same place for a long time. So you have a good book, you’re finished in three days; you'll watch a video on the internet, well no, because in 1967 there was no video or internet.

What do bored, restless adults do? Unite! And so the Great Bitter Lake Association was born. The sailors played a wide variety of different activities together such as: cards, chess, table tennis and more. Remember this is a time before Facebook so they had to actually meet, and unlike today, without masks! Who knows when we will return to that? So what else? They played football and handball on the deck of the English ship "Port Invercargill" and of course they had medical service by the doctor from the Polish ship "Djakarta" which we mentioned earlier. The staffs exchanged groceries as well as prepared food, as I teach my daughter "Sharing is Caring". One Swedish ship, the "M/S Killara" had a pool and the other Swedish ship the "M/S Nippon" had a gym. Of course one of their favorite things was movies, not video, there used to be such a thing. In 1968 they all united for an Olympic game of their own.

But how do you communicate with your family? There were no mobile phones, so you need to send letters! And what will they use for stamps? "Let's make them ourselves!" But hold your horse, wait a moment, not everyone can print stamps and mail them, it is not exactly legitimate. If it was legitimate, I would print my own stamps. So in the beginning, towards the end of 1967, the post offices in Egypt, Cairo and Alexandria were very tolerant of the sailors' distress and allowed the letters to be sent without any real stamps and of course the eight countries to which the ships belonged, accepted the stamps of the GBLA and even encouraged the practise. The post office of the organization was on the German ship "Northwind" and everyone gathered there to send and receive letters and the postman took the mail to Egyptian post offices for delivery. Not every postal clerk received the stamps as there was no official procedure in place and quite a few of the postmen demanded that they use regular Egyptian stamps..

Since there was no official status, the GBLA applied to the International Postal Association UPU for recognition since the letters were sent by sea and as of 1891, there was a law that allows letters to be sent by sea, PAQUEBOT and this also applies to the GBLA. The UPU accepted the claim that Clause 21 was valid for these ships and at the end of 1969 introduced a change to the bylaws to allow these stamps and make the practice official and it was accepted as Clause 23.

Only in 1975 did the Suez Canal reopen and the ships were finally allowed to leave the quarantine. But between 1967 and 1975, there was also 1973 and of course the Egyptians attacked Israel. This time the ships were inactive except for one, the American ship "Africa Glenn" which was abandoned and the Egyptian army used it as an observation and direction. As a result, the IDF sank the ship.

Real letters from the first period, that is, until 1970, sell for hundreds of dollars. Personally if I did not know the story behind the stamps, I would laugh at the stamps and think it is not true. They were simple stamps with bad graphics and looked as if they were cut with scissors, but that's the advantage of knowledge and that's why I pass the knowledge on.

The story is based on the stamp catalog of the Slovakian Peter Valdner, the Great Bitter Lake Association. Contact: valdpete@yahoo.com. Here is the site: https://valdpete.blogspot.com/p/great-bitter-lake-association-catalogue.html