Operation entebbe 2017 version

Operation Entebbe 1976
7/5/2017 1
PRESENTATION DEDICATED TO Lt. Col. YONATHAN NETANYAHU, WHO MADE THE SUPREME
SACRIFCE DURING THE RESCUE OPERATION

7/5/2017 2
All efforts has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information provided. However the
author shall in no way be responsible to any one for any type of errors or factual inaccuracies.
For any corrections, missed references or copyright violations please E-mail me at
j.venkatesh6@gmail.com
Contributions on this topic, in the form of images and facts are welcome.
VENKATESH
OPERATION ENTEBBE
DISCLAIMER

7/5/2017 3
Topics in the Presentation
OPERATION ENTEBBE
ENTEBBE TIMELINE
JUNE 28, 1976 MONDAY
JUNE 29, 1976 TUESDAY
JUNE 30, 1976 WEDNESDAY
JULY 1, 1976 THURSDAY
JUNE 27, 1976 SUNDAY
JULY 2, 1976 FRIDAY
JULY 4, 1976 SUNDAY
ADDRESS BY PM
OPERATION DETAILS
YONATHAN NETANYAHU LAID TO REST
JULY 3, 1976 SATURDAY

7/5/2017 4
ENTEBBE TIMELINE
OPERATION ENTEBBE
Air France Flight 139 from Tel-Aviv to Paris was hijacked to Entebbe
(Uganda) by terrorists with 250+ passengers & crew on 27th, 1976.
After many dramatic changes the passengers were freed from the terrorist.
This presentation brings out the series of incidents that lasted for a week.
Sun 27 June: Air France flight 139 hijacked
Mon 28 June: Hijacked aircraft lands in Entebbe, Uganda
Tues 29 June: Hostage-takers issue demands, threaten to kill passengers.
Wed 30 June: 47 passengers released, questioned by MOSSAD in Paris.
Thurs 1 July: Israel offers to negotiate; hostage-takers extend deadline,
release 101 passengers (All of them were Non-Israeli Passengers)
Fri 2 July: Israel decides to stop negotiation. Israeli forces rehearse
rescue.
Sat 3 July: Israeli cabinet approves rescue, assault force dispatched to
Entebbe, Uganda, storms airport.
Sun 4 July: Freed hostages arrive back in Israel.
IDF Israel Defense Forces
MOSSAD Israel Secret Intelligence
Sayeret Matkal Israel Elite commandos
Maj. Gen. Dan Shamron Member of IDF
Lt. Col. Yonathan
Netanyahu
Commander of Sayeret
Matkal
INFORMATION RELATED TO PRESENTATION

7/5/2017 5OPERATION ENTEBBE
JUNE 27, 1976 SUNDAY
 On June 27th 1976, an Air France (Airbus A300) which was
traveling from Tel Aviv to Paris via Athens was hijacked soon
after taking-off. On board were 246 passengers, 12 crew and 2
Hijackers.
 The plane was diverted to Benghazi, Libya. It was grounded for
seven hours for refueling, and then took-off. During the stop in
Benghazi, one female hostage who was pregnant, was released.
 The details of number of passengers and crew and nationality is
as shown.

JUNE 28, 1976 MONDAY
 The Aircraft landed in Entebbe, Uganda, in the
early hours of 28 June. At Entebbe Airport in
Uganda where three additional terrorists joined
the hijackers.
 The terrorists demanded the release of 40
terrorist held by Israel, as well as 13 other
terrorist held by France, Germany, Switzerland
and Kenya.
 The terrorists held the hostages in the old
terminal at Entebbe Airport.
Entebbe Airport, Old Building

JUNE 29, 1976 TUESDAY
 Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, then a colonel in the IDF Operations Branch says,
 "There was a lot of tension in the political leadership over the decision to be made,"
 "All the emotional and psychological pressure was on the shoulders of [then] Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Several of the hostages were close friends of Rabin, but he
never lost his sense of direction and judgment about the need to make rational and
unemotional decisions and he excelled in these days."
 Israel was negotiating with the hijackers with demands. But no decision reached.

JUNE 30, 1976 WEDNESDAY
 The terrorists did eventually release just over half of the passengers, keeping those whom they believed
to be Israeli or Jewish.
 Led by Captain Michel Bacos, the Air France crew refused to leave, stating that all passengers, including
those who were Israeli or Jewish, were their responsibility.
 The released passengers were flown to Paris, in Air France aircraft. French President Chirac welcomes
them at the Airport.
 Israel immediately dispatched MOSSAD agents to Paris to question them. However the information was
having a lot of gaps. Luckily one of the released hostage was a French retired Army lieutenant. He was a
French born Jew, whom the hijackers released by mistake.
 He provided many information to MOSSAD. With the information available, the option of a military
rescue operation was gaining momentum.
 From the information gathered, it was clear that the Ugandan Army was fully co-operating with the
hijackers, making any rescue or military operation, more complicated.

 With only their citizens held captive, Israel decides to act. It plans for a secret rescue operation. Just to
buy time, it was closely negotiating with the terrorist.
 Maj. Gen. Dan Shomron (IDF) was entrusted with the task of devising a plan to rescue the hostages.
 IDF, MOSSAD and Sayeret Matkal together work out plans to rescue their citizens.
 The plan would require down to the second details and flawless operation to succeed - a small elite
team would fly 2,000 miles into Uganda, free the hostages and return home. Ultimately, 200 (170 from
IDF and 30 from Sayeret Matkal) of Israel's best soldiers were chosen to participate in this action.
 Maj. Gen. Dan Shomron presented his plan as follows: “More than 100 of our citizens are sitting in a
room, surrounded by terrorists with their fingers on the trigger. They could fire in a fraction of a second.
We had to fly seven to eight hours, land safely, drive to the terminal area where the hostages were being
held, get inside, and eliminate all the terrorists before any of them could fire at the hostages.“
 There were many questions, doubt and challenges thrown on Maj. Gen. Dan Shomron. Which he
handled with confidence.

Maj. Gen. (IDF) DAN SHAMRON (Aug 5, 1937 - Feb 28, 2008)
PRESENTS THE PLAN TO IDF - CHIEF OF STAFF.Thirty years later Shamron recalls that when
the rescue plan was presented, there was not
much enthusiasm.
CHALLENGES IN A RESCUE OPERATION
Uganda was 2500 miles away (4000 KMs) away from
Israel. This means it was almost 8 hours journey.
Hercules C-130 would be used for the operation.
Any military aircraft leaving Israel could be sensed by
Egyptian, Sudan or Saudi radars. If this information,
was passed to the Ugandan authorities, it would
lead to instant killing of their civilians by the
terrorist.
It was decided to fly over the Red sea, instead
of flying over Egypt / Sudan or Saudi till they
reached Ethiopia.

Even if the rescue of hostages was successful, how/where to fuel the aircrafts for their return journey from
Uganda to Israel.
It was decided to carry another aircraft (C-130) full of fuel for the return journey.
For fueling the Aircraft, APU (Auxiliary Power Units) and ground support was needed.
The solution for this was to carry a fourth aircraft (C-130) with many APU’s and ground support equipments
to refuel all 4 aircrafts within the shortest possible time.
If the Ugandan soldiers fire before the Israel commandos reach the terminal, the terrorist would become alert and
the plan would fail.
It was decided that Israeli commandos would use silencers till the reach the terminal. They would also
ensure that Israel commandos were the first to fire with silencers in case of a encounter.

Having addressed many challenges now came the biggest challenge.
Upon landing at the Airport, how were the Israel commandos going to approach the old terminal (where the hostages were held)
without attracting the attention of the Ugandan soldiers at the Airport.? The runway and the terminal were about 700 meters
distance.
Israel commandos would use a dress similar to Ugandan Army.
From the intelligence gathered from released passengers it was understood that Idi Amin (Dictator of Uganda)
frequently visited the terminal and scared the hostages.
Hence, the Israel commands would travel from the runway to the terminal using a Mercedes similar to the one used by
Idi Amin. Thus the Ugandan soldiers would be made to believe that it was their dictator Idi Amin who was traveling.
Thus the Ugandan soldiers would not dare to shoot at the Israel commandos traveling in Mercedes (Similar to Idi Amin)
at least till they reached the old terminal.

THE INVENTORY FOR RESCUE OPERATION
Sayeret Matkal, used four C-130 Hercules aircraft, and accompanied by a Boeing 707.
 1st C-130 was a lead plane. It had three cars (two Land Rover jeeps and a civilian Mercedes – The kind of
vehicles used by Idi Amin and his escorts), one paratrooper force and Lt. Col. Netanyahu with is assault force.
 2nd C-130 (Evacuation plane) was empty and was to be used to secure the hostages and bring them back to
Israel.
 3rd C-130 would carry fuel that was necessary for the return journey from Uganda to Israel
 4th C-130 had four APU’s. The forces in this aircraft would cordon the environment thus preventing possible
counter attacks from Ugandan army.
Boeing 707 to be used for medical and communications support necessary for the operation and headed for Jomo
Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya.

JULY 2, 1976 FRIDAY
Intelligence information gathered / Preparation for rescue.
 On Friday, Sayeret Matkal began rehearsing a rescue plan under their commander, Lt. Col. Yonathan Netanyahu
 A special team was making all arrangements and necessary support for the rescue operation.
 A team of 29 members (who would be the assault team) were chosen.
 They were all send to Sinai desert (South of Israel) to rehearse their plan.
 Late on Friday, a mock terminal was built and planes were flown into the runway, loaded with the soldiers, the
Land Rovers and the Mercedes. The soldiers spent the rest of the night in dry runs.
 They practiced several times, at the night, because the plan was to be executed at Midnight.
 They practiced in various scenarios with no run-way lights, landing with engines off etc.
 The Non-Israeli hostages freed the earlier day helped the Israelis draw a picture of where the hostages were
held, their dress, behavior, they weapons they had and where the hijackers camped out.
 As a wild good fortune, the contractor who built the old terminal where the hostages were held turned out to
be Israeli. He provided the complete details about the layout of the Old terminal.

JULY 2, 1976 FRIDAY
 One of the MOSSAD agents in the East Africa (Believed to be from
Rwanda), sneaked into Uganda as a trainee pilot who lost his way and
made the photograph of the Entebbe terminal.
 All minute details were taken care. Like the formation in which Idi Amin
and his escort vehicle would be traveling, its speed were all collected.
 There was some difficult to get Ugandan army dress. However a similar
shade was arranged and was 29 dress (For the assault party) was
stitched.
 It was under stood that the there were around 200 Ugandan Army in
and around the Entebbe Airport.
Intelligence information gathered / Preparation for rescue
 According to hostage testimonies taken later, Idi Amin visited the hostages a number of
times, greeting them with “Shalom, Shalom – Welcome to Uganda.", and telling them he was
appointed by God and was their friend. Their release depends on Israel Govt. decision.
Hence it was understood that Idi Amin and his escorts visited the terminal often.
AERIAL PHOTO TAKEN BY THE MOSSAD AGENT.

JULY 2, 1976 FRIDAY
Intelligence information gathered / Preparation for rescue.
 There was a problem to get a Mercedes similar to the one used by Idi Amin. Finally one of the car dealer had
a white Mercedes. A civilian mechanic rebuilt the car and painted it black, while another person made a
Ugandan flag and number plate.
KAFRI – DRIVER OF THE
MERCEDES
 There was another glitch, says Kafri (Driver of the Mercedes): “As per plan, The Mercedes was the first car to
leave the Hercules (C-130). That particular car didn't start well. Being an automatic car, there is no way to
start it up by pushing and turning ignition on. We were afraid something was going to go really wrong, so we
decided during the real thing to turn on the car engine five or 10 minutes before landing."
 Also unknown to the soldiers - until 20 years later, says Kafri - Ugandan cars are right-hand drive, unlike the
Israeli Merc. This hint he got minutes before they were to land at Entebbe. However since the operation was
carried out in dead darkness, he did not bother about it much.

JULY 2, 1976 FRIDAY
Commandos practicing
their plan at Sinai desert.

JULY 2, 1976 FRIDAY

 Till 12 (afternoon) they did not receive the cabinet approval. They had to leave to land at Uganda as planned.
If there was no cabinet approval they would return without executing the plan.
 In Sinai, the soldiers switched into their fake Ugandan uniforms, made the previous day by an Israeli tailor,
and boarded their flights again, this time above the turbulence. Many of the exhausted and sick soldiers
slept.
 The aircrafts took off around 1.20 PM, and the plan was to reach Entebbe airport at
12 (Midnight of Uganda time)
 The aircraft took off from Israel in separate directions so as not to arouse suspicion,
and flew at under 100 ft. (30 meters) over the Red Sea to avoid Egyptian, Sudan and
Saudi radar.
 Hardly they had left Israel borders, they were informed of the cabinet’s approval.
 At night, they traveled with all lights off. The flew over Ethiopia and then over Kenya.

 At last Lake Victoria was at sight, on whose shore was Entebbe Airport.
 A little before it Lt. Col. Netanyahu proceeded towards his men, smiled at them and spoke a few words in encouragement
and instill confidence. He was not give any orders, but was cracking jokes and exchanging a few words to ease out the
tension of his men.
 "He was cool as ice and didn't show the slightest fear; he was full of confidence and focus,“ – says one of the soldiers .
 His only instruction was that rescuing the hostages and civilians is of primary importance and any causality among the
commandos should not be given importance.
 The timing of the landing was late by 2 minutes. As per plan, they were to land at 11.59 PM as per Uganda time.
 Three of the C-130 were hovering a little away from Entebbe, as their landing would create a huge noise.
Venkatesh
LAKE VICTORIA

JULY 4, 1976 SUNDAY
 Just before landing, the paratrooper force jumped on the runway to protect the landing aircraft and to prevent any firing on the Aircraft by
the Ugandan force.
 Lt. Col. Netanyahu took the passenger seat in the Mercedes and the remaining soldiers occupied the two Land rover dressed as Ugandan
Army.
 The cargo door to the Aircraft was opened even before it landed. The engines of the Mercedes and Land rover was started 5 minutes
before the Aircraft landed.
 As the C-130 touched down at Entebbe with its engines switched off. The Mercedes and Land Rovers - packed with Israeli commandos in
Ugandan army uniforms - rolled out. This happened just after midnight at 12.01 AM.
 Just before starting Lt. Col. Netanyahu, turned back to verify if the Land Rovers were in
correct formation. He then signaled to use the diagonal runway to proceed towards the
old terminal where the hostages were held.
 None of the Ugandan soldiers stopped these three vehicles. However when they were
hardly 200 meters from the old terminal. There was a resistance from one of the
Ugandan soldiers. Because he was aware of the fact that their dictator, Idi Amin a day
earlier has changed to while colored Mercedes.
The Ugandan soldier made a threatening moment with his rifle towards the
Mercedes…..

JULY 4, 1976 SUNDAY
 He was killed with Silencers. The assault party was using silencers to have any encounter with the Ugandan army till they
reached the old terminal to avoid attracting attention.
 After this Lt. Col. Netanyahu ordered the vehicles to go faster towards the old terminal. As each second delay could be
disastrous if the terrorist smelled the plan and open fire at their citizens.
 At the entrance of the old terminal, two Ugandan guards were about to shoot them. They were also killed with silencers.
Had the Ugandan guards fired first, the whole plan could have failed.
 They reached the Old terminal and immediately the Israel soldiers split into groups and
occupied the control tower and all the entry and exit points of the terminal. A group
of soldiers enter the building to rescue the hostages.
 As the soldiers were about to enter the room where the hostages were held.. that
disaster happened….
Representative Picture
Lt. Col. Netanyahu was shot by one of this Ugandan soldiers. He sank down with is knees
bent. However the men of the force continued in their tasks, following Lt. Col. Netanyahu
earlier orders not to take care of the wounded until the hostages were freed.

JULY 4, 1976 SUNDAY
 With the Mission commander Lt. Col. Netanyahu already shot, each commandos were on their own and the realized that
time was of the essence, as it would take only seconds for the terrorists, once they fully realized what was going on, to have
fire on the hostages.
 Once they entered the room where the hostages were held, there was confusion among the hostages, as the Israel soldiers
were in Ugandan dress. However the Israel commandos shouted in Hebrew “All lie down” (The assumption was that
terrorist would not understand Hebrew). The hostages also responded and laid down. This easily exposed the terrorist.
 Instantly the terrorist were killed. This was followed by heavy firing between the Israel forces and Ugandan Army (both
inside and outside the terminal)
 Meanwhile the remaining three C-130 landed at the Airport. The APU’s were removed
from one of the C-130 and was used to fuel all the C-130.
 The Mercedes and Land Rover was used to move the hostages from the terminal to C-
130.
 Around 100 hostages were evacuated from the building the C-130. There was clear
instructions to rescue the French crew.
 Lt. Col. Yonathan Netanyahu was shot at the chest and the bullet exited from the back.
He was rapidly loosing blood. He managed to move and some reached the tarmac area.
Finally he collapsed there

JULY 4, 1976 SUNDAY
 The paratrooper team who landed in the beginning of the operation rushed with the stretcher and transferred Lt. Col.
Yonathan Netanyahu in a jeep to the evacuation plane. There a team of doctors tried to resuscitate him, but their lengthy
attempts were of no avail. Lt. Col. Yonathan Netanyahu was pronounced dead.
 The evacuation plane with the hostages, French crew and Lt. Col. Netanyahu body was first to take off at 12.42 AM, from
Entebbe, Uganda towards Nairobi, Kenya. The remaining planes and soldiers were at Entebbe. The Israeli commandos and
soldiers were engaged in a stiff battle with Ugandan soldiers. Around 45 Ugandan soldiers were killed in the battle. They
wanted to finish the operation fast and take off, before being outnumbered by Ugandan Army.
 Ugandan Air force were about to deploy Mig’s to chase the evacuation plane.
The Israel forces destroy all 11 Mig Aircrafts in the airport. Thus avoiding any
hot pursuit from Ugandan Air force. The entire operation lasted for 58
minutes and was over just before 1 AM.
 After half and hour, all the four C-130 landed in Nairobi, Kenya. They landed in
Kenya to provide emergency medical treatment to the hostages. Shortly the
aircrafts took off towards Israel. Morning at around 9 AM, the hostages
landed in Israel.

JULY 4, 1976 SUNDAY
Rescued Hostages on their return journey
 Radio Israel announced the release of hostages, followed by BBC and Radio Paris.
 However not all were lucky. At the time of the raid, one hostage, Dora Bloch, a
75-year old woman, was not present at the airport. She had been taken to Mulago
hospital in Kampala, following a choking incident.
 Following Israel’s action, the Ugandan Dictator order the execution of Dora Bloch.
Within moments the soldier enter the hospital, drag Dora Bloch of her bed, cut
her limbs and killed her.
 In May 1979, pathologists identified remains found
near a sugar plantation 20 miles east of Kampala as
those of Dora Bloch. Her remains were send back to
Israel three years later, after the fall of Idi Amin’s rule.
FATE OF DORA BLOCH

JULY 4, 1976 SUNDAY
28
Emotional Re-Union
The rescued hostages land in Israel
and see boarding off from the C-130.
After a week long ordeal return to
their home land and wave the Israel
flag in pride and happiness.

JULY 4, 1976 SUNDAY
Emotional Re-Union

ADDRESS BY PM
P.M. Yitzhak Rabin addressing a
social get- together of the rescued
Entebbe hostages at the Pal Hotel in
Tel Aviv.
Disclaimer: I don’t have a
concrete information, if this
addressing happened on July 4,
1976 or on a future date.

ADDRESS BY PM
Shimon Peres addresses the
successful troops
(Photo: Keystone/Hulton
Archive/Getty Images)

Operation Details
The next slides shows the post operation details
as described to the then Israel PM and IDF
(Chief of Staffs).
Bird Eye View of the details of Operation

Operation Details
Post operation details as described to the
then Israel PM and IDF

Yonathan Netanyahu Laid to Rest
Lieutenant Colonel Yonathan Netanyahu (March 13, 1946 – July 4, 1976) who died
during the Entebbe Rescue operation.
Grave of Yonatan Netanyahu. His younger brother
Benjamin Netanyahu was Prime Minister of Israel
from 1996-1999.YONATHAN NETANYAHU
Operation Entebbe was retroactively
officially re-titled "Operation
Yonathan" in honor of Lt. Col.
Yonathan Netanyahu, who had led
the assault, and made the supreme
sacrifice.

Yonathan Netanyahu Laid to Rest
 Lt. Col. Netanyahu was buried with full military honors on
July 6th 1976 at Mount Herzl ( Jerusalem’s military cemetery
)
 The then Israeli Defense Minister, Shimon Peres, delivered
the eulogy at his funeral including the words, "...a bullet had
torn the young heart of one of Israel's finest sons, one of its
most courageous warriors, one of its most promising
commanders - the magnificent Yonathan Netanyahu."
 Lt. Col. Netanyahu, who was unknown to the public because
of the secret nature of his work, overnight became a great
hero known throughout Israel. His loss was widely felt as a
bitter blow to the nation, injecting a lasting note of tragedy
into the great achievement at Entebbe.YONATHAN NETANYAHU’S GRAVE STONE

25 Years Later
Memorial Day on Mt. Herzl. In the
photo: PM Benjamin Netanyahu, his
wife and father, at the grave of brother
and son Yoni Netanyahu, killed at
Entebbe.

25 Years Later
Annual Memorial Ceremony for Yoni
Netanyahu, who fell while rescuing
hostages of an Air France plane in
Entebbe, Uganda. In photo: his mother,
Tzila Netanyahu.

PAINTING BY A HOSTAGE
NEXT FEW SLIDES DISPLAYS THE CREATION OF A PAINTER, WHO WAS ONE OF THE HOSTAGE.

7/5/2017 41
PAINTINGS – MADE BY A HOSTAGE
OPERATION ENTEBBE
PASSENGERS KEPT HOSTAGE

PASSENGERS KEPT HOSTAGE

UGANDAN DICTATOR IDI AMIN
ADRESSESS THE PASSENGERS

THE RESCUE BY ISRAEL SPECIAL
FORCES

FORCES

Lt. Col. YONATHAN NETANYAHU BATTLING
FOR LIFE

PASSENGERS RESCUED BACK FROM
UGANDA

7/5/2017 50
References
http://www.ynet.co.il
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.jewishtelegraph.com
http://www.ynetnews.com
Please contact me for any missing references.
OPERATION ENTEBBE
Thanks for the Patience

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