The following is a Guest Post and may not be in line with the philosophy of Our Alter Ego. I just wanted to give people the opportunity I always thirsted for but never got, which is a platform for expression. I hope you appreciate the endeavours.
Be Light,
Much Love,
Iam Aehr.
. . .
“My son’s blue eyes were shining, he was constantly looking up as if he was talking to God” said Sara Davidson. Those words showed the entire world how life can take an unexpected turn at any moment.
The Air France aircraft left Tel Aviv on the 4th July 1976 with 180 passengers aboard. The plane had to make a stopover in Greece before heading to Paris. The passengers were mainly Israelis with some 40 French people. Sara Davidson and her family were going to spend their holidays in France since the academic year was over. The stopover in the Athene was just a normal procedure where some 20 additional passengers joined the flight. The departure was scheduled for noon and everything was done properly and rapidly without any flight delay. The aircraft took off but four passengers did not have any intention to go to Paris.
As soon as the plane reached a reasonable altitude four individuals stood up briskly and started to threaten the passengers. The stunned crowd thought that it was a joke but they soon realised the seriousness of the situation when the hijackers took out their pistols. They were forced to surrender their passports and they were constantly being insulted by the “pirates”. The leader ordered the pilot to change their direction and to cut off all radio transmitters. In Israel the officers were suspicious about that and after one hour they confirmed that the Air France aircraft had been hijacked.
The airport officers immediately informed Israel’s Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin about the incident. Rabin was shocked but he knew how to handle the situation. He made a phone call to Muki Betser, a counter terrorist commander. Betser knew the usual habits of the terrorists and started to prepare his troops to launch a deadly attack. The special force thought that the Air France would come back to Israel so that negotiations could take place between the Government and the hijackers. After two hours the plane was not back and the soldiers were getting extremely frustrated and anxious about it. Then, the radar transmitters showed that the aircraft was not heading back to Israel but to Libya.
The situation was now critical and Rabin knew that he would not be able to keep it a secret anymore. It was a predicament for the government who needed the immediate help of Israel’s notorious intelligence agency, the Mossad. It easily identified the terrorists who were travelling with fake identities. The leader was identified as Wilfried Bose, a member of the Revolutionary cell, a terrorist group who followed an anti-Zionism and Marxism ideology. Bose was assisted by Brigitte Kuhlmann, another member of the group and by two Palestinian terrorists from the PFLP (Popular Front for the liberation of Palestine). In Libya, Bose made a personal phone call to one of Israel’s number one enemy, the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. The Hitlerian dictator who pledged allegiance to the Palestinian cause, authorised the terrorists to refuel the plane so as to leave for a new destination.
At the Benghazi airport, the terrorists released a pregnant woman who was a little bit dizzy. Then the aircraft left Libya with the other passengers who were completely defenseless due to severe dehydration. The release of the pregnant woman was a mistake as she was immediately interrogated by the Mossad agents on her arrival. Unfortunately they were unable to get valuable and crucial information in order to stop the crisis. The Air France aircraft landed in Uganda where all the passengers were taken hostages at the Entebbe airport. The terrorists’ plan was meticulous because they knew that it would be impossible for the special forces to rescue the hostages. At that time, Uganda was ruled by a ruthless and evil dictator, Idi Amin Dada. Amin arrives at the airport and welcomed the hostages. On seeing the dictator the hostages were relieves and happy as they knew that Amin was a great ally of Israel. However most of the hostages did not that Amin changed side and was backing the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Due to some irreconcilable differences with the Israeli Government, Amin allied himself to Israel’s enemies like Libya, Saudi Arabia and the Soviet Union.
In Israel, the government and the agents tried to figure out how to save the hostages. Then, the terrorists sent a request to Yitzhak Rabin. They told him that the hostages would be free if the government negotiated with them properly. They asked the authorities to free 50 Palestinian prisoners, the Japanese terrorists Kozo Okamoto, the archbishop Hilarion Capucci and they wanted safe passage to another country. They warned Rabin that they would kill the hostages if these demands were not met. Everyone thought that Rabin would never make any agreement with these people but the time delay was too short and he had no choice but to surrender. It was a devastating blow the Israeli government as this could tarnish their reputation if they gave in to the terrorists.
In Uganda, Amin Dada wanted to take advantage of the situation to boost his power and popularity. He made a request to the terrorist where he asked them to extend the deadline. He did it as he had to attend the prestigious African Unity summit in Mauritius. Moreover, the terrorists found it more appropriate to make a selection among the hostages. They used the same method as the Nazi agents during the Holocaust. The non-jewish people were able to go back to France. The leniency of Amin and of the terrorists was once again a huge mistake. This allowed the Sayeret Matkal to prepare a counter-terrorist rescue.
The Mossad agents went to France in order to get maximum details from the hostages. In Tel-Aviv, the soldiers were studying the graphic details of the Entebbe airport and they had to train a lot in order to fight this foreign army. There were a lot of weaknesses in their work and it seemed more difficult for them to find the perfect idea. Then, Muki Betser got an ingenious idea for the rescue operation. In Uganda, political figures travelled in luxurious Mercedes car when they left the runaway. Betser focused on this idea and tried to figure out any defaults in that plan. The agents needed the approval of the Prime Minister before launching the attack. Unfortunately, Rabin refused ad he considered the plan as a suicide trap for both the soldiers and the hostages.
Nevertheless, the soldiers were confident and determined to go there and confront their enemies. They disguised themselves as Ugandan soldiers, changed the appearance of their plane, prepared the cars and made several rehearsals. The deadline was approaching and still Rabin did not give them permission. Yonatan Netanyahu, a unit commander, made his comeback after injuring himself. He took control of the operation and named it Operation Thunderbolt. He ordered his troops to be ready as they would leave Israel as soon as possible. They could not afford of wasting more time as the terrorists could possibly kill the hostages. Less than 45 hours before the deadline the soldiers took an ultimate decision and left Israel for the operation.
Three aircrafts left the airport in Tel Aviv. The first one contained the cars and the special forces while soldiers and artillery weapons were in the two other planes. Israel was surrounded by a lot of enemies such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Somalia and Syria. The pilots needed to be very careful so that the planes could not be detected by the radar system. Consequently, they had to fly at a lower altitude and make a longer route. After almost four hours of flight, the plane approached the Entebbe airport. The soldiers were nervous as it was not a rehearsal at all, they had to come face to face with a hostile army and make this operation a success.
Fortunately, the light bulbs on the track were switched on thus allowing the pilots to see the runaway track. They landed without any problem but the anxiety was at its maximum level. They thought that they would be attacked but nothing happened. Netanyahu, Betser and four soldiers were in the Mercedes and the other soldiers took place in the two Land Rovers. They left the plane and made their way to the terminal discreetly. Betser’s plan was a success but then an Israeli soldier saw a Ugandan soldier coming towards them. He aimed his machine gun at the Mercedes car and remained static. Betser knew that it was a military signal for political escort but Netanyahu did not. He ordered his men to eliminate the soldier with a pistol which contained a silencer. The soldier was shot many times in the chest and fell on the ground. Then, one of the Israeli soldier in the Land Rover saw that the Ugandan was not dead. He took his Kalashnikov machine gun and aimed at his head leaving the Ugandan no chance to survive. A loud noise was heard throughout the airport as the AK-47 assault rifle was not equipped with the silencer. The first part of their plan failed completely and this could be deadly for everyone.
The Israelis commandos were trapped and were forced to abandon their vehicles. The Ugandan soldiers were shooting at them and they were quite lucky since no one was injured by the bullets. They reached the terminal and decided to separate themselves into two groups. Betser and his team had to enter the terminal and save the hostages while Netanyahu’s team needed to tackle the African army. Betser broke into and a vicious gun battle started between the soldiers and the heavily armed terrorists. They were no match for the Sayeret Matkal soldiers and they were eliminated in less than one minute thus allowing Betser to gain control of the terminal.
Outside the terminal, the Israeli were having difficulties to restrain the Ugandan soldiers. Betser needed to wait for the aircraft to refuel completely then he could allow the hostages to leave the building. The Ugandan were overpowering the Israelis and managed to shoot down the unit commander, Yonatan Netanyahu. In the aircraft, the pilot received an instruction that could turn the situation around. The Defense Ministry in Kenya gave him the permission to make a stopover at the Nairobi airport so as to refuel his aircraft. He informed Betser about it and the latter allowed the hostages to leave the terminal. By the time they reached the aircraft, the two other planes landed at the airport. The resistance of the Ugandan soldiers started to crumble and many of them died. The soldiers crushed the terminal and Amin’s personal aircrafts with their military equipment. The Israelis left Entebbe as quickly as possible leaving the airport in a dilapidated state.
The aircrafts headed straight to Kenya where they could be refueled. The hostages received medical treatments and some of them underwent surgeries. The outcome revealed that four Israelis died including Yonatan Netanyahu. It was a painful moment for the soldiers who decided to rename operation Thunderbolt as operation Yonatan. In Israel families, media and political figures were gathered at the airport. All the Israelis were brandishing their flag as sign of pride and freedom over terrorism. In Uganda, Idi Amin was flabbergasted by these sky raiders and this event would indirectly be the cause of his demise in 1979.
Israel showed to everyone that bravery and patriotism were two fundamental values within their army. The entire world was impressed by this military achievement as they had turned a suicide mission into one of the greatest rescue mission in history. The operation Yonatan must serve as an inspiration to everyone as it proved that giving up must never be an option in life.
-Anonymous