Operation Entebbe

   On 4 July 1976, an Israeli commando operation, code-named "Thunderbolt," freed 103 hostages taken from a hijacked jetliner and held at the Entebbe airport, Uganda. The jetliner, Air France flight 139 originating in Tel Aviv, was hijacked on 27 June 1976 by Arab and German terrorists on a flight between Athens and Paris. The plane was flown to Uganda, then under the control of Idi Amin. Israel refused to give in to the hijacker's demands for the release of numerous terrorists held in Israel, six terrorists in West Germany, five in Kenya, and others in France and Switzerland. After a week of negotiations, Israeli commandos, under the command of Brigadier General Dan Shomron, staged a dramatic and successful raid that later was renamed "Operation Yonatan" in memory of Jonathan (Yoni) Netanyahu, an Israeli officer who was killed during the rescue.

   See also Netanyahu, Yonatan (Yoni: 1946-1976).