Entebbe is a city in Uganda.

On June 27, 1976, eight terrorists forced an Air France Airbus to land in Uganda.

Seven days before, Air France Flight 139, having taken off from Athens, Greece with destination Paris, France was hijacked, diverted to Benghazi, Libya airport and eventually forced to land at Entebbe, Uganda airport.

The hijackers were 8 PLO, which included Palestinians masquerading as Latin American tourists and 2 Baader-Meinhof Gang members. They were supported by the Ugandan regime of pro-Palestinian Idi Amin. This act of air piracy had been masterminded by Dr. Wadi Hadad, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, with the probable support of Carlos Ramirez, a.k.a. The Jackal.

They quickly demanded that Israel release 53 convicted terrorists. The hijackers freed the French crew and non­-Jewish passengers, while retaining 105 Jewish and Israeli hostages.

A 48­ hour deadline was set before executions of each Jewish passenger would begin.

The Israeli government announced that it would enter into negotiations. This bought the precious time needed to consolidate a seemingly impossible military option. A new ultimatum was issued for 13:00 on Sunday, July 4, 1976.

This was the start of Operation Entebbe.

Operation Entebbe, was renamed Operation Jonathan after the raid commander, Col. Jonathan “Yoni” Netanyahu, who died in it, and who was the older beloved brother of former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Yoni, who was thirty years old when he died, was the only soldier killed in the assault on the Ugandan airport.

The plan would require down to the second details and flawless operation to succeed – a small elite IDF response team would fly 2,000 miles into Uganda, free the hostages and return home. Ultimately, 200 of Israel’s best soldiers would participate in this action.

Brigadier General Dan Shomron was in charge of this military operation. This counter-terrorist operation was based on very calculated risks, which included:

1. Intimate knowledge of the hostage setting – Entebbe Airport where the hostages were being housed was built by an Israeli construction firm, so the IDF knew every detail about the layout of the airport

2. Detailed knowledge of the terrorists – The released hostages were able to provide important information regarding the terrorists, their weapons and their possible positions

3. The element of surprise – this was the biggest advantage that Israel had.

As a result, the IDF decided to send in an overwhelmingly powerful force: over 200 of the best soldiers the army had to offer participated in the raid, all of them heavily armed.

Finally, the element of surprise was probably the biggest edge that Israel held. According to Shomron: “You had more than 100 people sitting in a small room, surrounded by terrorists with their fingers on the trigger. They could fire in a fraction of a second. we had to fly seven hours, land safely, drive to the terminal area where the hostages were being held, get inside, and eliminate all the terrorists before any of them could fire.” The fact that no one expected the Israelis to take such risks was precisely the reason that they took them.

The aircraft took off at 13:20 on July 3 and headed south. Only then was the plan revealed to the Israeli Cabinet, which decided to let the operation continue. The lead Hercules carried the rescue force, led by Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu. It also held two jeeps and the now famous black Mercedes, a perfect copy of dictator Idi Amin’s personal car. Two additional Hercules carried reinforcements and troops assigned to carry out special missions, such as destroying the Migs parked nearby. A fourth Hercules was sent to evacuate the hostages.

The air package also included two Boeing 707’s. One acted as a forward command post. The second, outfitted as an airborne hospital, landed in nearby Nairobi, Kenya. The Hercules was escorted by F4 Phantoms as far as possible-about one­third the distance.

Skirting thunderstorms over Lake Victoria, the Hercules transports neared the end of the 7­hour, 40­minute flight. A surprise awaited them: the runway lights were on! Despite this, they landed undetected at 23:01 (local time), only one minute past their planned arrival time.

The soldiers freed the hostages in a lightning attack, killing all eight terrorists in the process. Tragically, force commander Yoni Netanyahu was killed as he led the hostages toward the safety of the aircraft; additionally, two hostages were killed in the crossfire inside the airport. The other squads accomplished their missions in virtually the same time as during the “dry­run.” By 23:59 the planes were on their way home. The operation, which was predicted to last one hour, in fact took only 58 minutes.

The mission struck a blow at international terrorism. “It resonated far and wide,” Shomron later commented. “It showed that you could counter terrorism, and that it was worth cooperating to do so.” As America celebrated its Bicentennial, the world was reminded that freedom is a value which must be fought for in every generation.

Sources: Entebbe, The Entebbe Rescue Mission and Looking Back on the Entebbe Raid.

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