Knesset holds ceremony to mark 37th anniversary of Israel’s daring operation of the return of hostages from Entebbe, when Israeli commandos rescued more than 100 hostages held at the Ugandan airport by the PLO and Ugandan soldiers.
PM Benjamin Netanyahu: Entebbe shows we can overcome the threats facing us.
The Knesset held a special ceremony on Tuesday to make the 37th anniversary of Operation Yonatan, the daring rescue mission in which Israeli soldiers freed more than 100 Israeli and foreign Jewish hostages held at Uganada’s Entebbe Airport.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – Photo: GPO
Yonatan Netanyahu, the elder brother of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, commanded the elite Sayeret Matkal unit that spearheaded the assault on the airport terminal where Palestinian and German terrorists were holding the hostages. He was killed in the raid — the sole Israeli military fatality — and the mission, originally called Operation Thunderbolt, was retroactively named Operation Yonatan in his honor. Four hostages were also killed in the crisis.
At Tuesday’s Knesset ceremony, the prime minister referred to Israel’s ability to defend itself far from its borders.
The threats facing us for the past 37 years continue," Netanyahu said.
"But the example of Entebbe shows we can overcome them, and again
today I say there is no place that our long arms can't reach to protect Israel."
The Knesset ceremony was the initiative of Labor MK Omer Bar-Lev, who took part in Operation Yonatan as a member of Sayeret Matkal.
View original Israel Hayom publication at: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=10419
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