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Entebbe memorial unveiled
Uganda unveiled a memorial at the old Entebbe airport terminal honoring Lt.-Col. Yonatan “Yoni” Netanyahu, the commander of the Israeli rescue force killed during the July 4, 1976 hostage-rescue operation.
“the ongoing security partnership, mutual trust and diplomatic reconciliation between Uganda and Israel”
The ceremony was led by Ugandan Armed Forces Commander Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who said the monument reflected “the ongoing security partnership, mutual trust and diplomatic reconciliation between Uganda and Israel.”
The operation freed more than 100 hostages held aboard an Air France aircraft hijacked by Palestinian and German militants and flown to Uganda, and Israeli commandos flew more than 2,500 miles before storming the terminal.
The BBC reported that the statue stands outside the old airport terminal where the rescue happened, and that Netanyahu was the only Israeli soldier killed in the raid after the hijacking of an Air France flight that had taken off from Tel Aviv and diverted it to Uganda’s international airport.
Kainerugaba’s message
In his remarks at the unveiling, Kainerugaba described the 1976 events as occurring during “one of the darkest periods” in Uganda’s history under Idi Amin, while saying today’s Uganda is a constitutional democracy committed to peaceful relations and cooperation with the international community.
The Jerusalem Post said Kainerugaba presented the memorial as a testament to “enduring friendship, security partnership, and mutual trust between Uganda and Israel,” and it quoted him saying, “We unveil the memorial to Lt.-Col. Yonatan ‘Yoni’ Netanyahu, the courageous commander of the Israeli rescue force.”
The BBC added that Kainerugaba acknowledged the deaths of Ugandan soldiers and said they had “fought valiantly... in what they believed was a justified cause,” before stating that “the government of Idi Amin... was a brutal dictatorship which did not represent the Ugandan people.”
Representing the Israeli delegation, Barack Orland thanked Kainerugaba for support of Israel and for backing the decision to erect the memorial at the site of the rescue operation, saying it “symbolized two countries standing together for future generations.”
Hostages and ties at stake
The memorial also commemorated hostages killed in connection with Operation Entebbe, including Jean-Jacques Maimoni of Netanya, Dr. Pasco Cohen, Ida Borochovitch, and Dora Bloch, with the Jerusalem Post noting Bloch was murdered after the raid while she was being held at a hospital in Kampala.
“Dora Bloch, 74. Bloch was murdered after the raid while she was being held at a hospital in Kampala”
The BBC similarly said that during the operation, three hostages—Jean-Jacques Mimouni, Pasco Cohen and Ida Borochovitch—died, and that Dora Bloch was later murdered in hospital in the capital, Kampala, while being treated there.
Beyond the 1976 deaths, the BBC reported that the hijackers and three accomplices who joined them in Uganda were also killed, as well as at least 45 Ugandan soldiers, in fighting with the Israelis.
Kainerugaba framed the unveiling as part of a continuing relationship, calling what happened half a century ago “a painful chapter in our history” while adding that Uganda-Israel relations have developed into a “partnership characterised by mutual trust, respect and co-operation.”
