Operation Entebbe, actually called Operation Thunderball/Thunderbolt (and afterwards renamed Operation Jonathan after the raid commander, Col. Yonatan Yoni Netanyahu (March 13, 1946 - July 4, 1976) is an Israeli war hero. ...Jonathan "Yoni" Netanyahu, the only The State of Israel (Hebrew: מדינת ישראל, translit. ...Israeli soldier who died in the raid) took place on the night of July 3 _ Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ...July 3 and early morning of July 4 is the 185th day of the year (186th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 180 days remaining. ...July 4, 1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...1976.

Hijack

Entebbe airport

Seven days before, Air France Boeing 747 Air France (Compagnie Nationale Air France) (a part of the Air France-KLM Group) is the national airline of France, employing over 64,000 people. ...Air France Flight 139, having taken off from The Acropolis in central Athens, one of the most important landmarks in world history. ...Athens, Greece, formally called the Hellenic Republic ( Greek: Ελληνική Δημοκρατία), is a country in the southeast of Europe on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula. ...Greece with destination The Eiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world. ...Paris, France _ Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ...France was hijacked, diverted to Benghazi is a seaport in Libya, Africa. ...Benghazi, This article is about Libya, the country in North Africa. ...Libya airport and eventually forced to land at Entebbe International Airport, The Republic of Uganda is a country in east central Africa. ...Uganda.

The hijackers were 8 The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (Arabic Munazzamat al_Tahrir Filastiniyyah منظمة تحرير فلسطينية ) is a political and paramilitary organization of Palestinian Arabs dedicated to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state to consist of the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, with an intent to destroy Israel. ...PLO and 2 RAF Logo The Red Army Faction (in German: Rote Armee Fraktion; RAF), also known as the Baader_Meinhof Gang, was postwar Germanys most active radical leftist paramilitary group, which is widely regarded as a terrorist organization. ...Baader_Meinhof Gang members. They were apparently supported by the The Republic of Uganda is a country in east central Africa. ...Ugandan regime of pro_ The Palestinian flag, adopted in 1948, is a widely recognized modern symbol of the Palestinian people. ...Palestinian Idi Amin Dada General Idi Amin Dada Oumee (May 17, 1928? _ August 16, 2003) was the military dictator of Uganda from January 25, 1971, to April 13, 1979. ...Idi Amin.

The passengers were held hostage in the Old Terminal's transit hall. The terrorists later released a large number of them, keeping only Israelis and The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ...Jews, which they threatened with death in case the Israeli government would not comply with their captors' demand to release Palestinian prisoners.

Upon the announcement by the captors that the crew and the non_Jewish passengers would be released and put on another Air France plane that was brought to Entebbe for that purpose, Flight 139 Captain Michel Bacos announced to the captors that all passengers, including the remaining ones, were his responsibility, and that he would not leave them behind. His entire crew, down to the most junior flight attendant, followed him of their own free will (upon their return to Paris, Bacos was reprimanded for this by his superiors at Air France, and suspended from duty for a period). A French In general, a nun is a female ascetic who chooses to voluntarily leave the world and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent. ...nun also refused to leave, and insisted that one of the remaining hostages take her place, but was forced into the awaiting Air France plane by Ugandan soldiers.

Israeli raid

Black Mercedes

After days of collecting intelligence and careful planning, four The Lockheed C_130 Hercules, a four_engine turboprop aircraft, is the main tactical air transport aircraft of the United States and United Kingdom military forces. ...Hercules transport aircraft flew down and night_landed without any aid from the ground at Entebbe airport to free the remaining hostages. They were followed by an air force jet with medical facilities flying into Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is one of Kenyas large aviation facilities and the airport that serves the country with the most international flights. ...Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Categories: Africa geography stubs | Capitals in Africa | Kenya ...Nairobi, Kenya (pronounced either as KEN_ya or as KEEN_ya, the former being more common and thought to be correct) is a country of eastern Africa, bordering Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and the Indian Ocean. ...Kenya.

Over a hundred The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) (Hebrew: צבא ההגנה לישראל Tsva Ha_Haganah Le_Yisrael ([Army] Force [for] the Defense of Israel), often abbreviated צהל Tsahal, alternative English spelling Tzahal, is the name of Israels armed forces (army, air force and navy). ...IDF troops including members of the elite Sayeret Matkal is the elite special forces unit of the Israeli Defence Force. ...Sayeret Matkal team arrived to conduct the assault; some Ha_Mossad le_Modiin ule_Tafkidim Meyuhadim (Hebrew: המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, Institute for Intelligence and Special Tasks) is an Israeli intelligence agency, commonly referred to as Mossad. ...Mossad troops might have taken part in the assault as well.

They landed an hour before midnight, with cargo bay doors already open. A black The word Mercedes can refer to a number of things: A brand of automobiles and trucks: Mercedes_Benz, brand of automobiles and trucks from the German automobile manufacturer DaimlerChrysler A number of places: Mercedes, Buenos Aires province, Argentina Mercedes, Eastern Samar, Philippines Mercedes, Texas, United States Mercedes, Soriano department, Uruguay...Mercedes with accompanying Jeep is an automobile marque of DaimlerChrysler. ...jeeps were brought along to avoid suspicion while the Israeli troops drove from the landed Fixed_wing aircraft is a term used to refer to what are more commonly known as aeroplanes in Commonwealth English (excluding Canada) or airplanes in North American English. ...plane to the terminal building: this would look like a company of Idi Amin or another high official with escort. The Mercedes was owned by an Israeli civilian and was apparently spray painted black for the raid, on the understanding it would be returned to the owner in its original colour.

The raid lasted only about three minutes and six Terrorism is a controversial term with multiple definitions. ...terrorists were killed. One hostage was killed when he leaped at the Israeli forces. Of the 103 hostages, three died. It is speculated that Israeli forces captured some of the terrorists but there is no confirmation of that. Ugandan forces also opened fire on Israeli troops killing Col. Netanyahu. 45 Ugandan soldiers were killed during the raid and the Ugandan fighter planes sitting on the ramp were put into non_flying condition. The rescued hostages were flown out shortly after the fighting via Nairobi to Israel.

Analysis

Rescued hostages

One of the reasons that the raid could be so well planned was that the building in which the hostages were being held was built by an Israeli construction firm. It was very common for Israeli firms to be involved in building projects in World map showing location of Africa A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest continent in both area and population, after Eurasia. ...Africa in the Centuries: 19th century _ 20th century _ 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s _ 1960s _ 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Years: 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Events and trends The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around the world. ...1960s and 1970s _ Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ...1970s. The firm which had built the building still had the blue prints and supplied them to the government of Israel. In addition many of the released hostages were able to accurately describe the interior of the building, the number of terrorists, the involvement of Ugandan troops and many other important details.

While planning the military operation the IDF built a partial replica of the airport building. Some Israeli civilians who worked on this had worked on the original project in Uganda. It has been claimed by researchers that after arriving at the military base to begin work on the replica building (not having been told what work they were to do before arriving) the civilian Israeli contractors were invited to dinner with the commander of the base. At dinner it was indicated the civilians would be guests of the military for a few days following completion of the replica, in the interests of national security. During the entire operation an extremely high level of security was maintained.

There was one other fatality: Dora Bloch, a 75_year_old hostage, was recovering from a choking episode in a Kampala, population 1,208,544 (2002), is the capital of Uganda. ...Kampala hospital when the Israelis struck. In April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four with the length of 30 days. ...April, 1987 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...1987, Henry Kyemba, who was Uganda's Health Minister at the time of Entebbe, told Uganda's Human Rights Commission that Dora Bloch had been dragged from her hospital bed and murdered by two army officers on the orders of Amin. Bloch's remains were recovered in 1979 is a common year starting on Monday. ...1979 following the The United Republic of Tanzania (Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania in Swahili) is a country on the east coast of central Africa. ...Tanzanian_Ugandan War which had resulted in the end of Amin's rule of Uganda.

In the week prior to the raid Israel had tried a number of political avenues to obtain the release of the hostages. Many sources indicate the cabinet was prepared to release Palestinian prisoners had a military solution seemed unlikely to succeed. A retired IDF officer, General is a military rank, in most nations the highest rank, although some nations have the higher rank of Field Marshal. ...General Bar_Lev had known Idi Amin for many years and was considered to have a strong personal relationship with him. At the request of the cabinet he spoke with Amin on the phone many times attempting to obtain the release of the hostages but had had no success by the time of the raid.

The government of The Republic of Uganda is a country in east central Africa. ...Uganda later convened a session of the A session of the Security Council in progress The United Nations Security Council is the most powerful organ of the United Nations. ...United Nations Security Council to seek official condemnation of the Israeli raid as a violation of Ugandan Sovereignty is the exclusive right to exercise supreme authority over a geographic region or group of people, such as a nation or a tribe. ...sovereignty. The Security Council ultimately declined to pass any resolution on the matter, thus establishing an important precedent in International law deals with the relationships between states, or between persons or entities in different states. ...International Law further strengthening the principal of national Self_defense usually refers to the use of violence to protect oneself and is a possible justification for this otherwise illegal act. ...self_defence.

TV dramatization

The incident was the subject of three films, two of which were US productions with international casts; the third was produced in Israel with mostly Israeli actors in the key roles.

• Victory At Entebbe ( 1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...1976)
   with Richard Dreyfuss (born October 29, 1947) is an American actor. ...Richard Dreyfuss, Sir Anthony Hopkins, CBE (born December 31, 1937) is a British-born American actor who was born Philip Anthony Hopkins in Margam, near Port Talbot, Wales to Richard and Muriel. ...Anthony Hopkins, Burt Lancaster (November 2, 1913 - October 20, 1994) was an American film actor. ...Burt Lancaster, This article is about the actress. ...Elizabeth Taylor.
   Director: Marvin J. Chomsky
• Raid On Entebbe ( For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ...1977)
   with Peter Finch (September 28, 1916 _ January 14, 1977) was an English_born actor with strong Australian connections. ...Peter Finch, Horst Werner Buchholz (December 4, 1933 _ March 3, 2003) was a German born actor, most well remembered for his part in The Magnificent Seven (1960). ...Horst Buchholz, Charles Bronson Charles Bronson (November 3, 1921 - August 30, 2003) was an American actor of tough guy roles. ...Charles Bronson, This article is about the African_American actor. ...Yaphet Kotto.
   Director: Irvin Kershner
• Mivtsa Yonatan (English title: Operation Thunderbolt) ( For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ...1977)
   with Sybil Danning, Klaus Kinski (October 18, 1926–November 23, 1991) was an international film actor who was regarded as one of the best German actors of the second half of the 20th century. ...Klaus Kinski.
   Director: Menahem Golan

External links

• Entebbe Diary (http://www1.idf.il/DOVER/site/mainpage.asp?sl=EN&id=5&docid=23016&year=3&Pos=1) _ The official, detailed account by the Israeli Defence Forces

References

• Hastings, Max. Yoni, Hero of Entebbe Bantam Doubleday Dell Publ., 1979. ISBN 0385271271
• Netanyahu, Iddo. Yoni's Last Battle: The Rescue at Entebbe, 1976, Gefen Books. ISBN 9652292834
• Netanyahu, Iddo. Entebbe: A Defining Moment in the War on Terrorism: The Jonathan Netanyahu Story, New Leaf Press, 2003. ISBN 0892215534
• Netanyahu, Jonathan / Netanyahu, Benjamin / Netanyahu, Iddo. Self_Portrait of a Hero: From the Letters of Jonathan Netanyahu, 1963_1976, Warner Books, 1998. ISBN 0446674613
• Netanyahu, Jonathan. The Letters of Jonathan Netanyahu, Gefen Books, 2001. ISBN 9652292672
• Stevenson, William . Ninety Minutes at Entebbe, Bantam Books, 1976. ISBN 0553104829