There are victories that do not end on the battlefield. Instead, they change the way a nation’s enemies, both near and far, perceive it. Operation Jonathan was one of them.
Fifty years ago today, on July 3, 1976, an Air France flight en route from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked by Palestinian and German terrorists, who diverted it to Entebbe, Uganda, with the blessing of the local dictator, Idi Amin Dada.
After landing, the terrorists carried out a selection among the hostages: most of the passengers, those who were neither Jewish nor Israeli, were released, while the Israelis and Jews were kept threatened with execution.
Their demands were clear: the release of dozens of terrorists imprisoned in Israel and the payment of a ransom. The alternative was the murder of the hostages.
On paper, every advantage belonged to terrorism.
The hostages were held in hostile Uganda, thousands of kilometers from Israel, and the terrorists functioned under the protection of a murderous and deranged tyrant. The world’s indifference in the face of the hijacking also played into the terrorists’ hands. All of these appeared to guarantee Israel’s surrender and its acceptance of every one of the terrorists’ demands.
Seemingly, Israel faced only two options: to surrender to terrorism, release terrorists, and ensure that more hijackings would follow; or to reject the ultimatum and launch a military operation, despite the odds appearing slim.
Israel chose the second option.
Fighting spirit, creativity, and sophisticated intelligence gathering made it possible for the crisis to end in a completely different way.
One week after the hijacking, following considerable hesitation, the government led by Yitzhak Rabin approved one of the boldest operations ever carried out by the Israel Defense Forces. Four Hercules aircraft carrying 200 soldiers secretly took off for Entebbe Airport in Uganda. They flew over 4,000 kilometers at low altitude, and at 11:30 p.m., after eight hours of flight, landed in the heart of a hostile country.
In less than an hour, IDF forces fought the terrorists and Ugandan soldiers, and by the end of the operation, the aircraft took off on their way home with 102 hostages. During the battle, Lt.-Col. Yoni Netanyahu and three of the hostages were killed. Netanyahu, commander of the IDF’s Sayeret Matkal special forces unit, thereby became a symbol of battlefield leadership, courage, and boundless devotion to the State of Israel.
The renamed “Operation Jonathan” electrified Israel and the entire world with its audacity, becoming one of the greatest achievements in the history of the Israel Defense Forces.
It was not merely a rescue operation. It was a strategic declaration.
Israel made it clear to the world that Jewish blood is not cheap. That no act of terrorism, however daring, grants immunity, and that even when the enemy is convinced it has won, the battle may, in fact, have only just begun.
Behind the success stood soldiers and commanders who were prepared to take upon themselves an almost unimaginable personal risk, alongside a leadership that bore an immense responsibility on its shoulders, driven by a profound sense of mission to protect the citizens of Israel and the honor of the Jewish people.
Operation Jonathan established a strategic principle that continues to guide Israel to this day.
The real role of the security establishment is not to adapt to threats, but to deny the enemy any sense of security. National security cannot rest on reaction alone. It must rest on initiative.
A clear message was also sent to terrorist organizations: geographic distance does not provide security. Nor does the sovereignty of a state that supports terrorism provide immunity.
Even today, Israel’s enemies continue to test the state’s resolve. The lesson of Entebbe remains unchanged: terrorism must never be allowed to dictate the rules of the game. Initiative must be seized, the battlefield must be taken into enemy territory, and the fight must continue until the enemy is defeated.
Those who remember, prevail.
The writer is the deputy head of the Institute for Security Policy at the Israel Defense and Security Forum (IDSF).