The head of Uganda’s military said on Thursday that his country is set to unveil a statue of IDF Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu, the older brother of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was killed during the Entebbe Airport raid.
“In order to strengthen our close blood relations with Israel, we shall soon unveil a statue to Yoni Netanyahu at the exact spot he was killed at Entebbe Airport,” tweeted General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the chief of the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) and the son of the country’s President Yoweri Museveni.
“Yoni was the big brother of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. God bless Uganda and Israel,” he added.
Netanyahu died while commanding soldiers in a raid to free 102 hostages at Entebbe on July 4, 1976.
On June 27, Palestinian and German terrorists had hijacked an Air France plane en route from Israel to Paris with 248 passengers onboard and forced it to fly to Uganda’s main airport.
Uganda’s government provided cover for the hijackers, who were welcomed personally by dictator Idi Amin.
The terrorists separated the Israelis and Jews from the larger group of hostages and forced them into another room. On the first day, 47 non-Israeli hostages were released. The next day, 101 more non-Israeli hostages were allowed to leave.
More than 100 Israeli and Jewish passengers remained as the hijackers threatened to kill them if their demands for a $5 million ransom and the release of dozens of Palestinian prisoners in Israel were not met.
Israel’s response was Operation Thunderbolt, led by Netanyahu. His 29-man General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (Sayeret Matkal) was given the primary task of attacking the airport terminal and rescuing the hostages.
The operation took place under the cover of night and rescued 102 hostages. Yoni Netanyahu was killed, and five Israeli commandos were wounded.
“Operation Thunderbolt” was later renamed “Operation Yonatan” in his memory.
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