An airline was hijacked to Uganda by  terrorists with 95 Jewish hostages on June 27th, 1976. On July 4th three planes landed in Israel with most of the hostages rescued after one of the most audacious  and successful raids in military history.

Three hostages were killed in the battle and the only IDF casualty;  Yoni Netanyahu, the brother of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s current prime minister, was killed by a Ugandan sniper.

Yoni Netanyahu

This digital recreation shows the raid but the film “Raid on Entebbe” starring Charles Bronson and Peter Finch (Yaphet Kotto played a great Idi Amin) better captured the intense emotion involved in the Israeli’s decision to execute the plan.  Training was top secret and when the Knesset finally approved the mission the planes were half way there.

The success of the Israeli mission inspired other counter terrorist actions by other nations.  It is a reminder that terrorism can be fought and beaten. It is another great reason to remember July 4th.

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