On Sunday, July 4th, 1976, the people of Israel woke up to remarkable news. The IDF had freed 102 hostages and crew held by Palestinian terrorists at Entebbe Airport, on the coast of Lake Victoria in Uganda. As thousands of people danced, greeting the freed hostages at Lod Airport, Israel’s Knesset convened a special session, which Knesset Speaker Yisrael Yeshayahu-Sharabi opened with Tehillim 118: “From the straits I called out to G-d, and G-d answered me with breadth. Hashem is with me, I have no fear – what can man do to me?… All the nations of the world surrounded me… but Hashem has helped me.” Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin told the Knesset of the “daring, brave and ingenious effort” by which the IDF had been successful in the mission, which would be known as Mivtza Yonatan in commemoration of fallen commander, Yoni Netanyahu.
But fifty years on, why does this operation still maintain a special place in Israeli history? There were hostage release operations before and after Entebbe. There was Palestinian terror before and after Entebbe. What about this operation left such an indelible mark?
I believe there are three parts to the answer. Firstly, it was not only an operational success, but it was a strategic victory in a decade long battle against hijackings. Taking over planes had become a favored tactic of Palestinian terror groups, and at points in the early 1970s it was happening almost monthly. It was a problem for the Israeli government, but other governments too who were being extorted by this new form of piracy in the skies. Following Entebbe, the tactic did not die out entirely, but it decreased rapidly. Unfortunately, Palestinian terrorists would innovate and find new methods, but Entebbe helped to end one particular chapter of violence.
Secondly, the Entebbe operation, then and now, spoke to something very deep about the Israeli psyche. One of the founding principles of Zionism was the creation of a state as a safe haven for Jews. Entebbe expanded that principle from passive to active – not only was the State of Israel open to Jews from around the world, but Israel would send its army to rescue Jews wherever they were. It is not obvious that a young military has the will and remit to go far beyond its borders to rescue its citizens – but there was and is complete consensus in Israel about this type of operation. The Jewish state will go to extraordinary lengths to protect Jews, even far beyond its borders.
But thirdly, Entebbe moved the goalposts on what we considered possible. As the passengers disembarked the Hercules planes in Lod, Israeli journalist Ya’akov Achimeir asked a freed hostage: “Did you think that the IDF would come to rescue you?” “Beshum panim va-ofen,” was the emphatic response, “Absolutely not. We didn’t imagine this at all.” At the time, indeed it was beyond imagination; nothing like this had been done before, as shown in our interview with an Entebbe rescuer in this edition, even the IDF special forces didn’t know if it was possible. Entebbe made us believe that the impossible was possible. This has now become an intuitive part of how we think – when Israel is at war, we almost wait and expect for some kind of miraculous, unimaginable operation to occur: when the Mossad explodes thousands of Hezbollah beepers it sold to them, or the Israeli Air Force sets up an operating base in the Iraqi desert, we have now almost come to expect it. Entebbe resonated in such a deep way, as the State of Israel had done something that was beyond imagination. Israel continues to face incredibly complex challenges – fifty years on, we should be inspired to go beyond imagination.
Rabbi Aron White is the Managing Editor of HaMizrachi magazine. He lives in Carmay HaNadiv, Kiryat Malachi, and serves as the Rabbi of Beit Knesset Tzameret Arnona in Yerushalayim.