Rescue Bus 300 (2018)

On April 7, 1980, at 18:15, Ilan Halevi closed the doors of his bus and set out on his daily route from Tel Aviv to Ashkelon. In the bus were 41 passengers who never imagined that in less than an hour they would be thrust into a nightmarish adventure that would change their lives forever. Some would reluctantly become the heroes of the affair that rattled Israeli society for many years.

In many ways the bus passengers were a microcosm of the colorful and diverse Israeli society. Residents of moshavs, kibbutz members, city folk, new immigrants and Sabras of almost all ethnic origins. Among them was Irit Portuguese, a soldier in the Intelligence Corps who will later turn out to be a levelheaded person with the endless ability to give. She was so excited after her boyfriend proposed to her and was creating scenarios in her mind of the new life she would lead after her impending release from the army. Another passenger on the bus was Jamal Mahmoud Gablan, a young resident of a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip who commanded over his three friends who were seated in the bus waiting for his signal to begin the takeover. After a precise plan prepared by the commander of the Sayeret Matkal commando unit, , Kobi Frumer, was sent to negotiate with the kidnappers, he was joined by Omer Bar Lev in civilian clothes and Dani S. - the most skilled gunman in the IDF. They approached the bus, stood not far from it and started talking to Jamal, to get him used to their presence. At one point Dani drew his gun and fired three bullets through the windshield of the bus and killed the terrorist commander on the spot. Upon hearing the shots the three teams stormed the bus and took it over in less than a minute, killing another terrorist. The two other terrorists were caught alive during the takeover, were transferred to the GSS and killed by virtue of a dubious command they were given by the GSS director. This affair evolved as one of the greatest scandals in the history of the Secret Service known as the "Bus 300 Affair" The turmoil Israel faced following the "Bus 300 Affair" and the heavy shadow it cast pushed aside from the headlines the story of the bus hijacking and the rescue operation, making them almost forgotten. This film - "Rescue Bus 300" casts light on these events and presents for the first time the story of the heroes and victims of the night of April 12, 1984, on the bus line 300.