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Source: http://www.wherewhatwhen.com/read_articles.asp?id=213
This summer marks the 30th anniversary of the rescue of over 100 Jewish hostages at Entebbe Airport in Uganda, in 1976. While I had planned to write about Entebbe for some time, the current situation in Israel makes it all the more apropos.

Israel’s disappointing performance in the recent Hezbollah war presents a strong contrast with the Israel of the 1970s. That was an era of boldness and confidence, in the wake of Israel’s spectacular victory in the Six Day War. I do see one amazing similarity to the current situation, however, and that is unity among Jews. As in 1967, there has been almost universal Jewish support for Israel – a turnaround from the long period of Israel bashing by both gentile and Jew that started with Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982.

Jewish unity is always a powerful thing, the silver lining in the dismal clouds that surround us. So, let’s step back in time to the last time that the Jewish world was united and listen to a story of heroism and daring. The story of Entebbe is, in my opinion, one of the great miracles in the history of the Jewish people. It is a privilege to retell it.

* * *

It was June 1976. I was in the 10th grade at Ner Israel high school. That year was the U.S. Bicentennial, and the country was poised to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the nation on July Fourth. We students were also waiting – for the end of school. Since it was a Hebrew leap year, though, school would not end until mid-July. English studies had ended in the middle of June, and there was a dilemma of what to learn in the now-vacated afternoons. The administration decided to offer mini-courses for about three weeks. One of the courses we took was Jewish history, given by the late Rabbi Benjamin Steinberg, principal of Bais Yaakov. He was a great teacher, who made Jewish history come alive. Little did we know that we were about to witness it in the making.

On Sunday June 27, 1976, Air France flight 139 from Israel to Paris was hijacked. The plane had made a stop in Athens, where two young Arab men and a German couple got on. They were literally carrying bombs, as there was no security at all. One had a machine gun over his shoulder concealed by a jacket! It is hard to imagine such laxity in the light of current security checks. A few minutes after takeoff the hijackers strode to the front of the plane and announced a hijacking. They stood in first class holding guns and hand grenades and threatened to blow up the plane.

The plane stopped in Libya to refuel and then landed in Uganda. Shortly afterward, Uganda’s president and strongman Idi Amin met the hostages and became the go-between in the negotiations. Amin, who took over in 1971 in a military coup, had proved to be a sadistic dictator. Hundreds of thousands of Ugandans were murdered during his eight-year reign. Interestingly, Israel once had friendly relations with Uganda, and Amin received training in Israel. He proudly wore an Israeli paratrooper wings pin on his uniform. Furthermore Israel had built the airport. Yes, the blueprints for the airport were sitting in Israel, a detail that becomes important later in the story.

Idi Amin claimed that he was trying to help save the hostages, which could only be done, he said, by giving in to the hijackers’ demands. The demands were for the release of terrorists, most of whom were being held in Israeli jails. The deadline was Thursday. The reality was that Amin, who was a Muslim, was helping the hijackers. The whole thing had been pre-planned.

* * *

On Wednesday, 47 hostages were released. There was one condition for release – one had to be a non-Jew. The hostages arrived in Paris on Wednesday night and started telling authorities what was really going on. They said the airport seemed to have been prepared for their arrival and that Amin allowed terrorists to leave, while reinforcements were allowed to come and take a shift. To the world, Amin kept saying that he was only trying to save the hostages, and the only way to do that was to give in to their demands.

To deal with the crisis, Israel started developing track A and track B. A was the diplomatic option. B, conducted under great secrecy, was the military option. Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin had no plans to give in. The diplomacy was to stall for time. Privately, he said that if we gave in, this would happen again. “And who knows? Next time they might demand our withdrawal from the West Bank.”

On a secret army base, Israeli General Dan Shomron was starting to rehearse for a rescue. They took the blueprints and built a mock Entebbe airport from tarp and poles!

Back in Uganda, the remaining hostages were brought into the old airport terminal. There they sat in terrible heat afraid to eat the food brought in for them. Amin visited several times and said “Shalom” to the hostages. He explained that the hijackers had no grudge against them, only against fascist Israel. That week, Amin spoke on the phone to Colonel Bar-Lev in Israel, his old friend. Bar-Lev tried to convince him to help the hostages, to no avail. Israel considered Amin to be a homicidal psychopath and wanted to feed his ego. Amin kept saying that he wanted to help but the only solution was to release the terrorists being demanded.

On Thursday July 1, Israel said they would consider releasing terrorists. The terrorists extended the deadline to Sunday July 4 at 3 p.m. At that time they would start murdering the hostages. The hostages’ families demanded that Israel give in and release the prisoners. Others said that this would only mean that more hostage taking would be conducted, with ever growing demands.

On Thursday, the word “seleczia” appeared on Israeli headlines, a reference to the selections done at concentration camps, separating those who would live from those who would die. The terrorists had separated the Jews from the gentiles and released a second set of gentiles. The flight crew was offered freedom. They opted to stay! Captain Michel Barcos would be reprimanded by Air France for this decision.

Back in Ner Israel, our Brazilian classmates told us that some of their friends had been released, since no one knew they were Jewish. Rabbi Tendler told the chazan to say tehilim (psalms) after davening. We felt helpless. What would happen this time? The hostages were deep in Africa, subject to the whims of the crazy Idi Amin.

The released hostages again provided important details. Some were hypnotized to recall details that they could not remember. The hijackers had renamed the plane Arafat. They called roll of the remaining Jewish hostages, and as each raised his hand, the hijackers made notations in their notebooks.

On Friday morning, Amin left Uganda for a conference of African leaders. He would not be back until Sunday.

* * *

In Israel, they began planning and rehearsing Operation Thunderbolt; a plan so bold no one in the world even imagined it as a possibility. The plan involved sending four C-130 Hercules planes to transport hundreds of soldiers and bring back the hostages. They would be escorted by Phantom fighter jets. Israel would be bringing a lot of equipment, as well: rocket launchers, half-tracks and jeeps with mounted, recoilless submachine guns, and a flying hospital with over 30 medical personnel. And, since Amin normally drove into the airport in a black Mercedes, Israel wanted to bring one along to complete the ruse. A similar one was located, but it was white. A little spray painting fixed that.

Somehow, they were all supposed to land without arousing suspicion, then drive in and remove the hostages, despite hundreds of enemy soldiers in every direction. The soldiers would run to the terminal and shoot the terrorists before they could react. Speed was essential.

The commandos started training. Their leader was Yonatan Netanyahu. He was the commander of the top elite unit in the Israeli army, Sayeret Matkal. An American-Israeli, Netanyahu was a Harvard graduate and a veteran of the Six Day and Yom Kippur wars. Netanyahu was brilliant. He was a descendent of the Vilna Gaon. Yoni’s paternal grandfather, Nasan Milikovsky had received rabbinical ordination at age 18 from the famed Volozhin Yeshiva. He was a famous speaker on behalf of the Zionist cause in the early 1900s.

The cabinet met on Shabbos to give final approval. Orthodox cabinet members walked to the meeting. Zevulan Hammer walked for one-and-a-half hours, refusing to get inside a car sent for him.

The rescue mission took off that Shabbos, July 3. In the words of one of the commandos, Netanyahu was “cool as ice and didn’t show the slightest fear; he was full of confidence and focus….We couldn’t believe he was part of this team that was risking its life in a few hours, with this perfect tone and focus and confidence. I’m not just saying this because he’s [now] dead. I saw myself watching him from the side and admiring him.”*

The planes flew south over the Red Sea, staying low to avoid radar. In fact they flew only a few feet over the water. The four Hercules planes flew apart from each other; they had no radio communication, which could be picked up. The mission continued over the Indian Ocean and then turned inland. Entebbe airport was right next to Lake Victoria, requiring them to fly over Ethiopia and then Kenya, whose government had agreed to allow refueling on the way back. Up above, Israel Air Force commander Benny Peled flew in a command plane. Flight time was seven hours.

Meanwhile, back in Tel Aviv, they waited for word. It was 10.30 at night.

* * *

In Entebbe, the hostages had completed their sixth day. Moshe Peretz, a 26-year-old medical student, was keeping a diary. His entry for Shabbat, July 3, 5:30 a.m.:

Everybody gets up vomiting and suffering from diarrhea. Seems to come from contaminated meat, because the Orthodox people who did not eat the meat have not caught the ailment. Sanitary conditions are atrocious. The toilets are full of filth. There is no water coming from the faucets.

4:45 p.m.: Amin comes in. He has returned sooner then expected from the African conference. He blames the Israeli government for not giving in to the terrorist demands. One of the hostages tried to ask a question. He respectfully said, “Field Marshall President Idi Amin ….” Amin started shouting: “Don’t address me like that! My full title is Field Marshall Doctor President Idi Amin Dada.”

* * *

Inside the lead Hercules, Netanyahu and nine other commandos got inside the Mercedes. There had been a plan to bring along an Idi Amin look-alike, but that was scrapped earlier that day. Although the four planes took different routes and had not communicated, they landed one right after the other. It was 12.01a.m., the first moment of the Fourth of July, 1976. The U.S. was 200 years old and Israel was just 28.

The huge doors of Hercules were lowered to create a ramp, and the commandos ran as fast as they could toward the old terminal building, where the hostages were imprisoned. The Mercedes followed, followed by a procession of other cars, driving toward the security guards near the control tower, where the Ugandan guards stood at attention and raised their rifles. The Mercedes doors flew open, and pistols fitted with silencers went off. Netanyu was in the front passenger seat. (A minor detail they had overlooked: Amin’s Mercedes had the driver’s seat on the right, British style. This Mercedes had it on the left. Oh well.) From the second car, an Israeli soldier shot the guards with a machine gun. The guards were killed but the surprise was compromised. As soon as they were past the guards, Yoni and his men quickly cleaned off their black face grease, so the other Israeli soldiers would not mistake them for Ugandan soldiers. The initial group consisted of 29 soldiers. They faced an estimated 200 to 1,000 Ugandan soldiers.

The soldiers carried walkie-talkies that broadcast to the overhead command plane, which relayed their messages to Tel Aviv. In Defense Minister Shimon Peres’ office, government officials sat and listened to the gunfire coming from 2,500 miles away.

The German terrorist stood guarding the hostages with a Kalashnikov. For some reason, he never looked out the window to see the planes landing. (Another odd detail: When the first plane landed, the airport lights were on. Right afterward someone turned off the lights. The lights helped them land, and the darkness helped them storm the terminal.) At the last moment, the German turned and was hit by a long burst of machine gun fire. The German female terrorist had a gun and a hand grenade. She looked up and seemed confused. One of Yoni’s soldiers emptied a machine clip into her.

One of the soldiers recently interviewed recalled, “A hijacker was hiding behind a pillar and pointed his gun to shoot at Amos [Goren]. And a fraction of a second before he shot, Amos shot him. We checked the hijacker’s gun, and he had already pulled the trigger; the piston had moved forward through the cylinder, but Amos’s bullet hit the cylinder and the bullet didn’t lock and fire. Even the best director could not have planned it better.”

Soldiers screamed orders in Hebrew for everyone to get down. Two Arab terrorists starting shooting at the soldiers. Miraculously, none of the soldiers was hit (although it was later determined the terrorist had fired 15 bullets), and none of the terrorists managed to kill any hostages, although one did shoot a 56-year-old woman. Those Arabs were quickly shot.

On the ground, parents covered their children. Two Israelis, both noted for trying to keep the hostages’ spirits high throughout the ordeal, stood up and were killed by soldiers who mistook them for terrorists. One had a concentration camp number tattooed on his arm. Two terrorists were found hiding in the bathroom and were killed.

While all this was going on, some Israeli soldiers ran to the gate in case more Ugandan soldiers showed up. They did and were all killed. Other Israelis raced to the Russian-built MIG fighters parked nearby and blew them up so they could not give chase on the way out. Some soldiers ran for the fuel tanks in hopes of taking fuel for the return flight. They decided to just leave and use the Kenya refuel option, accidentally leaving behind a $100,000 fuel pump.

While the wounded were being brought to the Hercules with the hospital inside, Ugandan soldiers started shooting from the control tower. Yonatan Netanyahu was hit and mortally wounded.

Finally, 53 minutes after landing, the first Hercules took off with all the hostages on board. It had enough fuel for 90 minutes of flying. Nairobi, Kenya, was 50 minutes away!

The last Hercules took off 90 minutes after they landed. It was 1.30 a.m. The dead terrorists had been fingerprinted and photographed.

At 2:20 a.m. Bar-Lev called Amin and woke him up. Paris radio was already reporting the raid. Amin demanded that Israel give in to the terrorist demands: “It is not a matter for more negotiations,” Amin said. Bar-Lev, shocked that Amin still did not know about the raid, decided to let him find out on his own.

Later, Amin got on Uganda radio and announced that he has reoccupied his airport. Of course, at that point, all the Israelis were long gone.

At 5 a.m. Amin called Bar-Lev back, saying, “Why did you shoot my soldiers? After all, I looked after the Israelis and treated them well.” Amin was asked what his soldiers were doing near the hostages, and he responded that they were there to protect the Israeli hostages from any harm by the terrorists.

* * *

All four Hercules refueled at Nairobi airport in Kenya. The more seriously wounded were taken to a hospital there.

Back in Tel Aviv, Yitzchak Rabin and Menachem Begin hugged. They had a drink and wished each other l’chaim.

At 2.30 a.m. Rabin called former Prime Minister Golda Meir and woke her up with the good news.

Back in the U.S., Yoni’s parents received the horrible news. (Yoni’s father, Benzion Netanyahu was a Jewish history professor at Cornell University and is a great expert on Spanish Jewry.) Their son had died on the way to Kenya. He would become an iconic hero.

In Ner Israel, we went back to the dorms after havdala. The pay phones started ringing with the good news. We jumped for joy and knew we had witnessed a miracle.

In Israel celebrations started throughout the country. People danced in the street. The United Nations discussed condemning Israel, but in the end nothing happened. The identity of the rescuers remained a secret for years.

Amin keep claiming that he was only trying to help. One hostage was left behind. At the time of the rescue, 74-year-old Dora Bloch was in a Kampala hospital after choking on food. After the raid Amin killed her. So much for his help.

During the Lebanon War in the early 1980s, Bibi Netanyahu was tapped to be a government spokesman. Israel needed someone who spoke English well, and he had the right last name. This launched his political career.

* * *

This story stands as one of the great events in our history, almost biblical in its scope and success. Yes, miracles do happen “nowadays.” As hostage Sara Davidson wrote after the ordeal, “There is a verse, ‘The Lord’s redemption comes like the twinkling of an eye. When we heard the sudden shooting I repeated the Shema Yisrael, which a Jew says when the hour has come. And a soldier leaped toward me with Hebrew on his tongue. I felt goose pimples. I would not die, but live to tell the deeds of the Lord!”

Let us hope that out of the current Lebanon mess will emerge Jewish unity, which the Torah teaches our Creator loves very much. And may our people merit future salvations in all times of trouble.

Recommended reading: In addition to the usual books on the rescue (Ninety Minutes at Entebbe, etc.) also read Letters of Jonathan Netanyahu. His brilliance and spiritual side come through.

Eli Pollock is a CPA in private practice in Baltimore.

*A testimony to the character of Yonatan Netanyahu is found in Self-Portrait of a Hero, compiled by his brothers, Bibi and Iddo, after his death. I especially enjoyed Iddo’s telling of a story from their childhood, when Bibi presented Jonathan with a “Talmudic dilemma”: “You’re in the desert with another person, and you have one canteen of water. Either of you would need to drink the water to save himself. You can’t split it. What would you do…?” Yonatan answered, “It would depend on who the other person was. If it were Iddo, I’d give him the water.” Iddo writes, “I looked at my big brother, who was then 15 years old, and I knew: He’d do it.”

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