Posted on 07/02/2009 9:21:12 PM PDT by Shellybenoit
On July 4th 1976 shortly after midnight Israeli Planes landed at Entebbe and began their now famous rescue. The entire assault lasted less than 30 minutes and all six of the hijackers were killed. Yonatan Netanyahu (Bibi's older brother) was the only Israeli commando who died during the operation. He was killed near the airport entrance, apparently by a Ugandan sniper who fired at the Israeli commandos from the nearby control tower. At least five other Israeli commandos were wounded. Out of the 103 hostages, three were killed and approximately 10 were wounded. A total of 45 Ugandan soldiers were killed during the raid, and about 11 Ugandan Army Air Force MiG-17 grounded fighter planes at Entebbe Airport were destroyed. The rescued hostages were flown out to Israel via Nairobi shortly after the fighting.
The government of Uganda later convened a session of the UN Security Council to seek official condemnation of the Israeli raid, as a violation of Ugandan sovereignty. The Security Council ultimately declined to pass any resolution on the matter. In his address to the Council, the Israeli ambassador Chaim Herzog said:
We come with a simple message to the Council: we are proud of what we have done because we have demonstrated to the world that a small country, in Israel's circumstances, with which the members of this Council are by now all too familiar, the dignity of man, human life and human freedom constitute the highest values. We are proud not only because we have saved the lives of over a hundred innocent people—men, women and children—but because of the significance of our act for the cause of human freedom.
Chaim Herzog's words still ring true. That act of rescuing 100+ hostages still ring true. The Act of fighting for freedom still rings true:
(Excerpt) Read more at yidwithlid.blogspot.com ...
I remember, Shelley. I was a girl at the time and I wanted to grow up and join the Israeli army, because they let women fight.
In my opinion the Entebbe Raid ranks as the finest feat of arms in post-WWII history.
That’s a tough call to have made: the Battle of Ia Drang is right up there, as is the Yom Kippur war and quite a few others.
Entebbe had it all: audacity, cunning, desperate measures, a brilliant plan, a decisive outcome, a wholesale slaughter of villains, courage, sacrifice.
God was with Israel at Entebbe. May He always be.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
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