Uganda has unveiled a statue honouring Yonatan Netanyahu, the Israeli commando and elder brother of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was killed during the historic Entebbe hostage rescue operation in 1976.
The monument, depicting Netanyahu holding a machine gun as he strides forward, was unveiled outside the old terminal of Entebbe International Airport, where Israeli commandos carried out the daring rescue mission 50 years ago.
Uganda’s army chief, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, said the statue was a tribute to Netanyahu’s courage and selfless service, describing the Entebbe operation as one of the most significant episodes in modern history.
Netanyahu was the only Israeli soldier killed during the raid, which freed more than 100 hostages held after an Air France flight was hijacked and diverted to Uganda.
The aircraft had departed Tel Aviv on June 27, 1976, and stopped in Athens, where two Palestinian militants and two German members of a revolutionary group boarded. The hijackers later seized control of the plane and forced it to fly to Libya before continuing to Entebbe, where then-Ugandan President Idi Amin welcomed the aircraft.
The hijackers demanded $5 million and the release of 53 militants imprisoned in Israel and several European and African countries. Some hostages were subsequently released, but Israeli and Jewish passengers remained in captivity.
On July 3, Israeli commandos launched a surprise rescue operation after flying into Uganda through Kenya. The mission lasted less than 90 minutes and resulted in the rescue of more than 100 hostages.
However, the operation also resulted in several deaths. Three hostages were killed during the raid, while another hostage, Dora Bloch, was later murdered in a Kampala hospital. The hijackers and three Ugandan accomplices were also killed, alongside at least 45 Ugandan soldiers.
