Entebbe

The Entebbe operation also known as Operation Thunderbolt was an Israeli operation executed on the 4 of July 1976 in the city Entebbe (which is located in Uganda). The previous week (27th) 7 hijackers and 2 organizers including Wadie Haddad, Wilfried Bse, took over an AIR FRANCE Airbus A300 plane, which contained 248 passenger. The plane originated in Tel Aviv. When the hijackers took control of the plane they redirected it to Benghazi, Libya. After staying in Benghazi they flew off to Entebbe airport Uganda. When the plane landed in Uganda the hijackers proclaimed that if; 40 Palestinians held in Israel and 13 others in other countries including Kenya, and France they would begin to kill the hostages starting July 1st. Upon landing at Entebbe the nonJewish passengers were released, except for the crew who bravely refused to leave the rest, and so 85 civilians and 20 crew members remained in Uganda. While in Uganda the poor prisoners waited, back home in Israel the cabinet fumed and decided what they could do and what they should do. They were intent on obliging to the terms but only if a military operation was out of the question which currently, it was not. An ex-IDF officer known as Baruch "Burka" Bar-Lev knew the Ugandan president (Idi Amin who was in full support of the hijack) talked to him over the phone trying to convince him to release the hostages. Sadly, this attempt at diplomatic solution failed but

thankfully this conversing led Idi Amin to order the deadline to be prolonged until July 4th which proved crucial because it gave time for the task force to fly all the way to Uganda and commence... Operation Thunderbolt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Israeli ground task force numbered approximately 100 personnel: The Ground Command and Control Element This small group comprised the overall ground commander, Brig. Gen. Shomron (and Gabriel), and the communications and support personnel. The Assault Element A 29-man assault unit led by Lt. Col. Netanyahu, this force was composed entirely of commandos from Sayeret Matkal, and was given the primary task of assaulting the old

terminal and rescuing the hostages. Major Betser led one of the element's assault teams; Matan Vilnai led another.

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The Reinforcement Element Securing the area, and preventing any hostile ground forces from interfering with the C-130 Hercules aircraft and the actual rescue. Destroying the squadron of MiG fighter jets on the ground, to prevent any possible interceptions by the Ugandan Air Force. Providing protection for and assisting in the loading of the hostages aboard the transports. Assisting in the ground refueling of the air transports.

The task force flew over Sharm al-Sheikh and over the Red Sea flying at only 30m above ground to avoid radar (most of the journey)! Following the C-130 Hercules were 2 Boeing 707 jets. One carried medical supplies and the others valuable cargo was General Yekutiel Adam, who watched the operation unfold as he circled above the airport. The Israelis arrived at Entebbe at 23:00 IST (Israel Standard Time). Cargo bays open and weapons at the ready, a black Mercedes and multiple Land Rovers were driving to make it appear as if the planes were accompanying Idi Amin or someone else of great importance, but 2 of the sentries at the gate who were aware of the fact that Idi had replaced the black Mercedes with a white one began to question but were quickly shot

with silenced pistols and killed later on with assault rifles from the next car, and thats when the operation began. As the Israeli commandoes burst into the terminal they shouted; Stay down! Stay down! We are Israeli soldiers. through a megaphone in English and in Hebrew. An unfortunate a quite frankly a stupid 19 year old Frenchman named Jean-Jacques Maimoni who told the hijackers that he was Israeli stood up and was killed by the commandoes because he appeared to be one of the hijackers (because he stood up). Pasco Cohen aged 52 and Ida Borochovitch were the 2 other unfortunates and were hit by the crossfire of either the commandoes or hijackers. Then after killing the hijackers in the main hall and throwing a couple of grenades into the second hall they burst in and killed the remaining (3) hijackers. Just then 3 more C-130 Hercules landed with armored cars to ferry the hostages to the planes, destroy the landed MIGs, and provide cover where needed, while the Israelis loaded the anxious passengers. The After Math In outrage Idi Amin ordered the execution of hundreds of innocent Kenyans as punishment for helping the Israelis in their operation. In a message to the Ugandan council We come with a simple message to the Council: we are proud of what we have done because we have demonstrated to the worlsd that a small country, in Israel's circumstances, with which the members of this Council are by now all too familiar, the dignity of man, human life and human freedom constitute the highest values. We are proud not only because we have saved the lives of over a hundred innocent peoplemen, women and childrenbut because of the significance of our act for the cause of human freedom. Chaim Herzog. The Western World praised the operation calling it An act of self defense, and an Impossible Operation. But in private US, Representative Henry Kissinger criticized the Israelis for using US equipment but this was a small matter and kept quite.