50 years after Operation Entebbe, Israel honors fallen commander Yoni Netanyahu
- On July 4, Israel marks 50 years since Lt.-Col. Yonatan Netanyahu was killed commanding Operation Thunderbolt, the 1976 mission that rescued more than 100 hostages from Entebbe Airport in Uganda.
- The crisis began on June 27, 1976, when Palestinian and German terrorists hijacked an Air France flight carrying more than 250 passengers and diverted it to Uganda, where dictator Idi Amin welcomed the hijackers.
- Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin authorized the operation more than 2,500 miles from Israel; Israeli commandos killed the hijackers and rescued hostages, though Netanyahu was killed leading his men into battle.
- At a memorial service at Mount Herzl two weeks ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood at his brother's grave, reflecting on the half-century since the mission and pledging to carry forward his legacy.
- Quoting his brother's writings, Netanyahu noted Yoni's belief that Israel's survival required sacrifice, linking the raid to the state's commitment to defend its citizens and confront terrorism wherever it emerges.
7 Articles
7 Articles
Fifty years ago, Israeli special forces in Uganda's Entebbe ended an abduction of aircraft and liberated more than a hundred hostages. The command action is also part of German history.
'Then they heard Hebrew'
Fifty years after “Operation Entebbe,” Gadi Ilan still doesn’t first remember the gunfire. Or the explosions.Or even the moment he saw his commander, Lt. Col. Yonatan (“Yoni”) Netanyahu, commander of the elite Sayeret Matkal (General Staff Reconnaissance) unit and the older brother of current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, struck by enemy fire.He remembers the hostages.“If there is one thing I need to single out about the operation,”…
50 years after Entebbe: The week of terror that changed Israel forever
Fifty years after Operation Entebbe, one of the most daring hostage rescue missions ever carried out, the dramatic story behind the mission remains one of Israel’s defining moments of courage, resolve, and defiance against terrorism. World Israel News Staff The crisis began on June 27, 1976, when an Air France flight carrying more than 250 passengers was hijacked by Palestinian and German terrorists and diverted to Entebbe Airport in Uganda. The…
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