the rescue operation. In the 1982 Lebanon War he led the 35th paratroopers Brigade's reconnaissance battalion during heavy fighting against PLO operatives and the Syrian Army. In 1984–1985 he commanded Shaldag Unit in the clandestine airlift of 7,000 endangered Beta Israel (or "Falasha") Jews from Ethiopia to Israel in what was known as "Operation Moses" and in special operations in Lebanon. Later on he commanded the 35th paratroopers Brigade in counter-guerrilla operations in the South Lebanon conflict. In his most recent post, as head of the IDF Southern Command from 2000 to 2003 he secured the border of the Gaza Strip against infiltration by Palestinian militants. Controversy On September 10, 2005, as Almog and his wife arrived in London on an El Al flight to do fundraising for Aleh, a handicapped services organization which he helped found, Almog was informed by the Israeli Embassy that a warrant had been issued for his arrest on suspicion of violating the 1949 Geneva Convention in connection with home destructions in Gaza. The warrant was issued by Chief London Magistrate Timothy Workman of the Bow Street Magistrates' Court. The petition had been filed by Daniel Machover and Kate Maynard, attorneys for the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism officers were stationed at the immigration desk. Almog was to be arrested when he presented himself but the Israeli military attache advised him to stay on the plane and return to Israel. Almog and his wife remained on the plane for two hours before it took off for Ben Gurion Airport. It later emerged that the senior counter-terrorism officer in charge of the operation had feared for public safety and the diplomatic impact of confronting El Al sky marshals and Almog's bodyguards. A second concern was the legal implications of boarding the plane after El Al had refused police entry. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw apologized to his Israeli counterpart over the incident and said that the warrant has been withdrawn. The Guardian reported that the UK government was "examining stopping private individuals applying to magistrates for prosecutions over war crimes..." A review by Independent Police Complaints Commission was unable to identify the source of the leak. In 2009, Almog was among the Israeli officials investigated by the National Court, a special and exceptional court in Spain, over the 2002 assassination of Hamas official Salah Shehade. The investigation was dropped on grounds that the