With Netanyahu watching, survivors recreate events of Entebbe raid

July 4, 2016 arrived in a different era but was reminiscent of a scene 40 years ago when Israeli commandos carried out a daring tactical raid on Entebbe airport.

The mission was to rescue over 100 of their nationals who had been taken hostage in what had been described as the first ever international terrorist act executed with the help of a Ugandan leader.

Some of the surviving hostages were present to tell of their ordeal: over a hundred Israeli military officers, several of them carrying radio gadgets, with Ugandan troops perched on the rooftop of the old Entebbe airport control tower that is still ridden with bullet holes from 40 years ago.

The Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft that flew in the commandos was flown back and parked at the same tarmac.

In 1976, an Air France plane flying from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked and diverted to Entebbe where the passengers and crew were taken hostage, with the aid of the then Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. The act was in protest of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.

The commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the raid on Entebbe was presided over by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – with the latter saluting his Ugandan counterpart for being at the forefront of the fight against terrorism.

“Forty years ago we landed in the dead of the night in a country led by a brutal dictator who gave refugee to terrorists. Today we landed in broad daylight to be welcomed by a president who fights terrorism,” Mr Netanyahu said.

Echoing Mr Netanyahu’s words, President Museveni said the 1976 rescue operation was “another bond growing out of adversity”, and that this bond of adversity should be turned into opportunities.

The Ugandan leader also told the Israeli delegation that “by the time Israel came to rescue the hostages, we had been fighting Amin for six years”, but highlighted that Amin’s illiterate army was ill-prepared for the raid and hence no match for the Israeli commandos.

“Fortunately, the mission succeeded and the hostages were rescued,” the Ugandan leader added.

Mr Netanyahu’s brother Yonatan, who led the mission, was killed during the raid. Four hostages, seven hostage takers and 20 Ugandan troops were also killed that night.

Counter-terror talks

Significantly, this commemoration concluded with a counterterrorism summit between the Israeli premier and seven regional heads of state from Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Sudan, Zambia and Tanzania following Israeli authorities announcing a $13 million aid package for the countries to strengthen training in security and health.

The meeting, which was held at State House Entebbe, was attended by Mr Museveni, Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, Ethiopia Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, South Sudan’s Salva Kiir, Zambian president Edgar Lungu and Tanzania Foreign Minister Augustine Mahiga.