Lightning Shalom. The story of the Mossad's most successful hostage rescue operation. About the city of Entebbe International reaction and consequences
People without skin
Uganda. International airport in Entebbe. With a wide smile and already filled out declarations, we are met by Yura, a simple Russian man with the appearance of George Clooney and British citizenship. He works for the Abakan airline, which has a contract with the UN here. Modern Uganda is a civilized, developing African country with a relatively cozy and measured life. Nearby is Congo. And the difference between them is the same as between heaven and hell. Our pilots carry UN cargo back and forth every day
Operation Entebbe
Yura says that only Israeli special forces crossed this border faster than us in 1976. The story is famous: Palestinian terrorists hijacked an Air France plane, flew it here and settled in the old airport building - under the wing of the friendly regime of the cannibalistic president Idi Amin. All the hostages, except Israeli citizens and one British grandmother, were soon released. Then Israeli special forces arrived to pick up their own. The hostages were freed within a minute and a half, and it took another hour and a half to evacuate. During the operation, three hostages and two special forces soldiers were killed, one of whom was Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu, Benjamin's brother. Seven terrorists and several dozen Ugandan soldiers were killed. But the saddest fate of all was the fate of the British grandmother: even before the release of the hostages, she was taken to the hospital with food poisoning, and when the Israelis flew away, she was simply killed there on Amin’s orders.
Do you see the control tower? - Yura points towards the legendary airport. “She still has bullet marks on her.” The new president apparently decided to keep them as souvenirs. Now his aircraft is located there. And the pilots are Ukrainians.
Are there many of us working here in general?
That's enough. Russians, Ukrainians, Kazakhs, Georgians - the entire former USSR.
Are our pilots really that cool?
Our old planes and helicopters are in demand in Africa; they are less demanding to maintain and cheaper than their Western counterparts. Who should fly them if not ours?
The airport is surrounded by a fence with barbed wire. Long-tailed monkeys sit on the fence and look at the presidential aircraft. They seem to like airplanes.
Yura and I are sitting on the shore of Lake Victoria. There is a sign in front of your eyes: “By swimming in the lake, you are risking your life.”
Is it because there are crocodiles here?
What crocodiles! No one here has probably seen them. The lake is full of all sorts of bacteria and other rubbish. Our people say: “If you swim in Victoria, then you will give birth to a bucket of crucian carp.” Only those who were born on this lake can swim here: they have immunity.
I immediately want to move away from the water. Life in paradise, as it turns out, is not so safe, and cute monkeys, passionate about aviation, are carriers of malaria. Just like the clouds of small mosquitoes by the lake - for some reason they don’t care about the thick layer of repellent on our hands.
Android Rita
This is a fictional character. With its help, we try to remember the name of our hotel - “Anderita”. Two military men, a Russian and a Ukrainian, taught us this. The guys, like many here, work for the UN. They are observers in neighboring Congo. The guys are relaxing in Uganda, they have a week's vacation. I won’t even try to mention their names: they promised that if anything happened they would appear in dark glasses and erase my memory.
Observers live in “team sites” - small UN outposts scattered throughout unstable parts of the world. Sometimes such a “team site” turns out to be the only center of modern civilization somewhere in the middle of the Congolese jungle or in Western Sahara. The guys have been collecting information for many months, sending reports to their superiors, and then suddenly everything starts to move: first soldiers and armored vehicles appear, then gas stoves, washing machines, fire extinguishers, provisions and other details. It is precisely to move all this stuff that Russian pilots are needed here. Although we have not been able to understand what exactly the UN is doing here.
In general, military personnel are not recommended to talk to journalists. But how can ours not chatter with ours? Moreover, we have herring with us. We agree on a neutral topic - sex. There are also women among the observers. But such luck is rare. Moreover, only the established couple is happy; the rest have to be content with their erotic fantasies for two years. Contacts with the aborigines are strictly prohibited, although the supply of local “mammies,” as prostitutes are called here, is tens of times greater than the demand. And the prices are bargain: $10 per night. But 80% of girls have AIDS. Therefore, sexual adventures are equivalent to walking through a minefield.
Guys, how do blacks and whites get along here? Is there racism?
Do you know the difference between a racist and a tourist? - The Russian observer takes a sip of beer and slyly narrows his eye.
Two weeks. This is how they get along.
Hotel Anderita is located on the shore of the lake. It's not hot here at all in the evening. But I ask the guy from the reception to turn on the air conditioner. There is no mosquito in my room, and mosquitoes are buzzing, and now the last thing I want to know is what malaria is. The guy drives a regular plug into a triple socket, and the device begins to hum.
Do you want a jig-jig with "mommy"? - the master of rosettes asks me confidentially.
I don't believe in jig-jigging for money. Only for love.
The guy looks at me like I'm an idiot and leaves.
Friday evening. We are at the villa of Russian pilots. I pictured in my imagination modern Saint-Exuperys, celestial romantics with scarves thrown behind their backs, perhaps wearing leather helmets, well, or something like that. In reality, these turned out to be strong Siberian men in sweatpants, yearning for sour cream and home. The average age is from 40 to 50. The crew commander, Igor, described his activities simply: “We are the same long-range fighters, only we have a larger tonnage.”
We are greeted by the favorite of Russian crews - the dog Trezor. It seems to be a German shepherd, although there is no guarantee that there was no African blood. After the abundance of monkeys, we are very pleased to look at an ordinary dog, but Trezor is wary of our appearance in the villa.
Don’t be afraid,” Igor laughs. - This dog is a fucking racist: he only bites blacks. He has never bitten a white man, but he chases black people.
Men have a small window in their work schedule for drinking alcohol - from Friday evening to Saturday evening. No one is forced to drink, but those who need it don’t waste their time. We drink with fried tilapia, this calling card of Lake Victoria and Moscow office canteens.
Now the crew has a rather boring job - transferring the UN contingent to the Congo. What about the dumping of humanitarian aid in Sudan? It was necessary to descend on the Il-76 to 250 meters, go to the cross, open the ramp and drop several tons of food - reminiscent of targeted bombing, especially when the bag lands on a goat. The reset mechanism is also interesting because you can talk about it without leaving the table. Here Igor’s hand drops to the maximum permissible level, makes a jewelery adjustment 20 meters to the right and ends up exactly above the herring.
Sudan. Darfur region. Task: drop a load of humanitarian aid onto a site marked with a cross. This is the work that the crew did in Sudan. The biggest thrill for the guys is getting caught in the cross.
Igor has been in Africa since 2004. Flew over Sudan, Rwanda, Congo, Chad, Libya and Egypt. He has a wife and two daughters. The youngest is 4 years old. Igor is 50, he is a first class pilot and is happy with his life. He doesn’t feel much love for Africa, but he doesn’t hate either. The crew shift is three months, then back to Siberia. The main motive for working in Africa is money.
And do they pay a lot?
There's never too much, it's normal. I would have stayed here longer, but in our company there is a queue among the crews to go to Africa. Everyone needs to earn money.
People far from aviation can be forgiven for not knowing what the wingspan of the IL-76 is, what a ramp is and what the black box looks like, but when approaching the plane, it is important to remember two rules. First: never piss in front of a plane. Second: never say the word “last” - only “extreme”. You should also not speak disparagingly about the aircraft, no matter what condition it is in. In principle, smoking is still prohibited on the airport grounds, but if you really feel the urge, the plane will allow you. Because he understands everything, and he is also a man. The plane does not have any special name - the crew calls it laconically and simply: “breadwinner.”
The bourgeoisie don’t have such an aircraft,” says Oleg, an engineer of aviation and radio-electronic equipment. - He sits anywhere. High position of engines. A monument to Ilyushin needs to be erected. And Antonov too.
It turns out that our crew’s plane did not land only on an ice floe. And not because they didn’t fly over the pole - they were just afraid that the iceberg would turn over. When the men talk about the plane, their eyes light up.
Sometimes you sit down - the lane is short, - says Igor, - you know that you will sit down, but your nerves play. You sit down and when you finish.
These guys drink and swear, they can slap the cook who cooks them Russian borscht on the butt, and they get the same pleasure from their work as from sex... No, after all, the air truckers turned out to be a little Saint-Ex. At least one is flight operator Sasha. Everyone calls him Givi. He really looks like a Georgian, although he is German by blood. He works in the crew together with his brother, navigator Oleg. Givi is a poet. Here is his “Ode about a Fly”:
Not only birds fly in the blue and deep sky,
Planes and big hairy flies fly there.
Their flight is not at all sad,
He is assertive, impetuous, fast.
Well, sometimes we meet them,
We say: “Ugh! This is disgusting! -
And, in a wild impulse, grabbing a thick bundle of old newspaper,
We kill them, we kill them.
Well, what better way to come up with than killing a little fly,
Defenseless, furry, winged?
After all, a fly doesn’t even have a stinger, and it doesn’t even have claws...
So let's be more tolerant of those around us and loved ones.
Let us embrace with nobility and love
This world is amazingly clean.
I really like this ability of my compatriots to find beauty even in the very ass of the globe and sincerely admire it. Uganda is, of course, a paradise. But men spend half their lives in Africa in the Congo. But there everything is different: heat, angry blacks, rebels, poverty, increased levels of malaria, yellow fever, short landing strips and a house several hundred kilometers further away. And Givi stands with a glass of vodka and believes in the purity of this world.
People without skin
Kampala is the capital of Uganda. It is only 40 kilometers from Entebbe. There we, together with the observers, plunge into the capital's life.
The capital of Uganda, like Moscow, is located on the hills. At first it seems that it was at the behest of some African ruler that the madhouse was expanded to the size of a city. Trade shops, shops, hotels and restaurants - everything is noisy, honking and smoking. From time to time some preacher starts screaming in your ear, foreshadowing the imminent end of the world. But perhaps the most grandiose sight is the bus station: hundreds of white minibuses in an incomprehensible order moving in different directions. Under the command of observers, we cross this sea of identical machines without incident. They immediately manage to offer us pineapples and bananas.
Hey muzungu! Buy bananas!
Thank you, I don't want to.
Where are you from?
From Russia.
Do you know Arshavin?
Well, a little.
Plays well. Are you going to South Africa?
No and you?
I'm flying in a week. Already bought tickets.
Did Uganda qualify for the championship?
No. And Russia?
Also no.
We shake hands. Still, the bitterness of defeat brings us closer together.
Every local resident considers it his duty to turn to me: “Hey, muzungu! Do you want a belt? Or: “Muzungu, hello! How are you?" Or: “Muzungu, where to go?” And even: “Muzungu, fuck off!” Observers explain to me that muzungu is a designation for any white person. Literally translated from Swahili as “man without skin.”
Suddenly, a street thief rips the gold chain from the Russian observer's neck. Then a real action movie unfolds. Our guy quickly turns around, knocks down a couple of merchants, jumps over the railing and catches the thief by the hand. The arrest takes no more than 10 seconds. The chain is no longer there. A crowd gathers around the observer. He continues to hold the thief's hand. The locals surround the observer more closely. A few more seconds, and the action movie will continue. But at this moment the police appear. The observer (more precisely, his diplomatic passport) is immediately believed, the thief is grabbed by the belt and taken to the police station.
The interrogation yields nothing. The suspect is processed and sent to the local bullpen. The police forecast is disappointing: the chain is unlikely to be found. They offer to come to the station in a couple of days. The victim is upset: it was a gift from someone close to him. We console him with stories of how cool he looked from the outside when the locals surrounded him. He smiles and offers us a beer.
Late evening we return to Entebbe. At the gates of “Anderita” “mummy” is tending to us.
Hi boys. I'm Rose. What's your name?
We introduce ourselves as Cucumber and Eggplant. “Mummy” repeats our names and claims that they are very beautiful. We say that in Russia everyone is like that. But after we give up the jig-jiggy, the conversation doesn’t go well. Rose gives us a free kiss and disappears into the night. Maybe she just closed her eyes?
Breadwinner
The morning begins with a slight panic: my temperature rises, and I imagine terrible pictures of malarial fever. Yura immediately takes us to the hospital, where they do a test for a couple of dollars.
We are waiting for the results on board the IL-76. Loading in progress. It is necessary to place in the cargo compartment one armored personnel carrier, one Ural, several gas stoves, fire extinguishers and some other UN rubbish. All this is reminiscent of a game of giant Tetris. The process is led by flight operator Givi. When one fire extinguisher disrupts the ergonomics of the entire space, Givi begins to move it, while two local loaders stand nearby and watch.
Help, fuck! - Oleg pushes one of the loaders. - They are such guys. You have to beat them with a stick to make them work. And you can’t touch them - that’s the first rule. You'll just set yourself up. Provoking you is one of the ways of milking the white man.
Oleg was once in a Congolese prison for unsuccessfully pushing a guy. They released him only because he managed to make authoritative black friends. Four years ago, Oleg worked for a “gray” airline: the same occupation, only the customers were not always the UN, but also, for example, rebels. While Oleg was on vacation, his crew crashed. Since then, he has not liked Africa; he swore off flying here several times, but after several months of unemployment he changed his mind.
Here the eighteenth century borders on the twenty-first! - The plane's engines are running, so Oleg shouts: - Some people drive jeeps, others live in a tribe of cannibals. They sacrifice their children to build a house. And then they say that slaves are white. We kind of came here to feed and water them for free.
Is it true that children are sacrificed?
They will never tell the muzungu about this. But they are only civil during the day, and at night everyone believes in magic.
The men do not believe in the humanity of their mission in Africa. They believe that the local population is extremely lazy precisely because of the interference of the white world. Our economic interests only add fuel to the fire here. Of course, these are general phrases - the guys only talk about what they see from their flight heights. The last thing in the world they want to delve into the nuances of local wars.
Loading ends. The remaining crew members drive up to the breadwinner. In light uniforms and sunglasses, they resemble characters from a heroic film about humanity’s struggle against an asteroid. The trembling air slows their movements. In the background, Amos, a black man, is mopping the nose of the plane.
Hello brother! - he shouts joyfully: after seven years of working with our pilots, he learned to speak Russian quite well.
“The rhinoceros is your brother,” one of the crew responds.
The heroes enter the plane, take off their jackets and sunglasses, change into regular sweatpants and become ordinary truck drivers. The engines start, the plane rolls to refuel. His movement is corrected by a marshal with signal sticks in his hands. Common workday. Everything feels like home. Only behind the marshal’s back is a huge gecko crawling along the airport wall.
While Yura arranges our exit from the airport work area, I look at the posters on the wall of the security service. It turns out that the biggest threat to pilots is not terrorists, but birds. I always thought these were stories. But in the last month there have been three cases of birds getting into the engine. There is even a special term - B.A.S.H. (Birds Air Strike Hazard) - the threat of a bird attack in the air.
The worst are the eagles,” Yura comments on the poster. - They never turn around. It is especially unpleasant for helicopter pilots: they fly at the same altitude with them. Recently, an eagle pierced the guys' cabin and got stuck in the windshield. I had to pull him inside.
And if a bird hits your feeder's engine, will it fall?
If in one, then everything is fine. The remaining engines will be pulled out. If two engines fail, then it’s already bad. Without a load it will still stretch out, but with a load it won’t. After all, the plane is 20 years old, the thrust is no longer the same.
Nobody knows why the eagles don't turn away. Probably, the plane in the sky is the same muzungu for them as the white man on the ground, who is trying to establish new rules where they have evolved over the centuries.
Nefteyugansk - Afrikansk
The crew flew to Kinshasa, the capital of Congo. We're going home. We received negative test results for malaria, which means we will live. Our fellow observers have returned. The chain was never returned. The Russian consul informed the children that the case of her abduction had been submitted to court. The thief was charged with a couple more similar cases, so the guy will spend the next year in Kampala prison.
I go outside. A sweaty man sits on the terrace and eats pork ribs. We exchanged a few words with him. He is another Russian pilot in Africa. We discuss impudent Congolese, malaria and typhoid fever. The pilot takes a sip of beer and thinks for a few seconds.
You know, Africa is addictive,” he says unexpectedly.
What? In Nefteyugansk I work from eight to eight - I fly on towers. And in Afrikaansk I relax. Warmth, good schedule and money are completely different. Again, wives - they are nerds...t.
The conversation with the pilot ends on a sad note. He tells how in the Congo one pilot from South Africa went in the evening to buy cigarettes and did not return - the locals chopped him into pieces.
Our people get hooked on Afrikansk like a drug. They adopt the local relaxed attitude to life and death, bask in the sun, eat tilapia, enjoy children dancing in the streets and, while shooing flies off pork ribs, talk about the death of friends.
And when they return home, they yearn for Africa. Because now they are muzungu everywhere.
Photos: Alexey Mayshev for RR
Entebbe from A to Z: map, hotels, attractions, restaurants, entertainment. Shopping, shops. Photos, videos and reviews about Entebbe.
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Entebbe, located on the northern shores of Lake Victoria, offers an alternative to Kampala as a starting point or destination for a trip to Uganda. Founded in 1894 as a strategic point for the development of Ugandan lands, the city over time grew into the unofficial capital of the country. In the past, the city served as a gathering place for Buganda chiefs, the administrative center of a British colony, and the seat of the provisional government of Uganda. Now it is a prestigious suburb where local top management and government officials prefer to live. There are many old colonial parks, lakes, the air is clean, and the streets are calm and safe.
How to get to Entebbe
Entebbe International Airport receives flights from Dubai, Nairobi, Cairo, Addis Ababa and Johannesburg. British Airways and KLM fly here.
Search flights to Entebbe
Transport
It is convenient to move around the city by minibus (matatu) or regular taxi (which will cost a little more). Locals and thrifty tourists enjoy boda bodas - motorcycle rides as passengers.
The road from Entebbe to national parks and attractions of Uganda lies through Kampala. Minibuses leave for Kampala every half hour and the journey will take approximately forty to fifty minutes.
Entebbe cuisine and restaurants
At the Entebbe market you can buy banana palm trunks, each with bunches of hundreds of fruits. The most popular local alcoholic drinks also continue the banana theme - banana beer and banana gin.
The average Ugandan eats three kilograms of fried, baked and stewed bananas a day.
Despite the fact that the proximity to Lake Victoria makes it possible to include fresh freshwater fish in the menu, fish dishes are practically not represented in the local cuisine. They say this is due to the religious prohibitions of the Ugandan tribes. Culinary extremes include fried locusts and termites.
The city has many places with European and American cuisine familiar to tourists. And Ugandan coffee is considered one of the best in the world.
Entebbe - botanical garden
Entertainment and attractions in Entebbe
Lake Victoria is Entebbe's main attraction - the largest in Africa and the second largest freshwater lake in the world. Its area is 69 thousand square meters. kilometers. The lake is home to an amazing fish - tilapia, which bears its offspring in its mouth, and an equally exotic fish - protoptera, which can breathe air. The lake is a favorite vacation spot for townspeople and tourists. You can sunbathe on the beautiful beaches, take a walk along the lake, go fishing, and visit the chimpanzee sanctuary on Ngamba Island.
On the shore is the fishing village of Kasenya, famous for its market, where you can buy souvenirs and real works of art created by the hands of local craftsmen.
The Wildlife Education Center (aka zoo) is located near the city pier. In addition to crocodiles, monkeys and antelopes, the zoo is home to the endangered African rhinoceros.
Entebbe - Lake Victoria
Botanical Garden
The National Botanical Garden, founded in 1898, is located on the northern side of the lake, almost at the equator. The garden, covering more than forty hectares, is divided into several thematic zones in which you can see unique representatives of the Ugandan flora, exotic flowers and medicinal plants. Rare birds such as the palm vulture and gray parrot live here.
A cinematic classic, the famous film "Tarzan" with Johnny Weissmuller was also filmed in the Uganda Botanical Garden.
QTH - Entebbe.
It operates on the HF bands.
QSL via JA1PBV.
Address for QSL direct:
Sadao ITO, 3-8-12 BARAKI, ISHIOKA-CITY, IBARAKI, 315-0042, Japan.
Uganda: on both sides of the equator
This country in East Africa is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the youngest in the world. Thanks to the usual large number of children here, the average age of its population is about 15 years. In general, there are a lot of interesting things to tell about. There are several kingdoms on its territory, and not so long ago a local dictator, who adored titles, declared himself king... of Scotland.
The country is crossed by the equator, but the tops of its mountains are covered with snow. 15 percent of the area is occupied by inland waters. This is much more than, for example, Finland, which is called the “land of thousands of lakes” and which has access to the sea. Of course, there are fewer lakes, but among them there are...
Royal Lake
In the summer of 1858, the English officer John Speke (by the way, a participant in the Crimean War) made his way through the savannah forests of East Africa. The goal was to discover the sources of the great African river Nile. The expedition was difficult: the guides tried to steal something and run away, and were plagued by tropical illnesses. Speke lost his hearing for some time, and then his sight. But on July 30, all the ordeals receded into the background. An endless expanse of water, stretching to the horizon, opened before the travelers. The natives explained that this was Lake Nyanza. A survey of the local population allowed the British to conclude: the Nile flows from this huge reservoir. Speke patriotically named the lake after the reigning British Queen Victoria.
In terms of size, it is the largest freshwater lake in Africa and the second largest in the world. Its area could easily accommodate the entire Republic of Tatarstan. Geologists say that the lake was born not so long ago - about 400 thousand years ago. Then the local region was shaken by real catastrophes - gigantic cracks ran along the earth's surface, volcanoes erupted, new mountain ranges grew. Frozen lava flows and mountains blocked the former path of the rivers. In search of new channels, some of them carried streams into a depression that subsided in the ring of mountains. And so Lake Victoria was born.
Saddle-billed yabiru, Uganda. Photo by Luz Montero Espuela.
Since then it has dried out three times. Now it is no longer fed so much by rivers as by rain streams flowing down from the mountains during the “wet season.” In the water and on the shores, special ecosystems of plants and animals have developed here, surprising scientists.
For example, an unusual protoptera fish lives in the lake, looking like a thick two-meter mustachioed snake. It is surprising, first of all, because, unlike all other fish, it breathes not only with gills, but also... with lungs. From time to time, the protopter, wriggling, floats up, takes a breath of atmospheric air and dives again. This allows it to survive when there is a lack of oxygen in the water. And this happens in Victoria during the dry seasons. To save energy on ascents, protopters avoid great depths (and they reach 80 meters in the lake). True, another threat arises - local drying out of some part of the reservoir. But the protopter found a way out: it buries itself in the ground, hibernates and is not afraid of any drought. And when the rainy season comes, the water again covers the dry petrified silt, and the protopter comes to life as if nothing had happened. Until the next drought. Zoologists have found that he can sleep without waking up for up to four years!
Among coastal animals, the sitatunga aquatic antelope, a little larger in size than a domestic goat, attracts attention. Competition with stronger and larger ungulates pushed the sitatunga to the shores. Its low body weight plus long, widely spaced hooves allow it to run through the quagmire of marshy areas. Without fear, entering the water up to their bellies, sitatunga graze in thickets of algae, sedges and reeds. And to escape from blood-sucking insects and predators, they dive so that only their nose and eyes remain above the water. For the most dangerous predator - man, the aquatic antelope becomes easy prey. As a result, the species was included in the International Red Book. A reserve has been created on the uninhabited islands of Lake Victoria specifically to protect these animals.
Of the five hundred species of fish that live in the lake, three hundred are not found anywhere else in the world. People come here to see the animals that are called the hallmark of Africa - crocodiles, lions, hippos, giraffes, elephants, rhinoceroses, porcupines, monkeys, pythons... What can I say, even the coat of arms depicts representatives of its fauna - the crowned crane and antelope, and the flag - still the same handsome crane
Watussi, . Photo by syaolyao cska.
Banana republic
This is what we mockingly call small Latin American countries that are completely dependent on the export of one or two agricultural crops. But the real banana republic, without any hints, is Uganda. In Russia, a little more than 7 kg of bananas per capita are eaten per year, in Ecuador - ten times more. And it confidently occupies first place in the world - here the “capita of the population” consumes 450 (!) kg of bananas per year. They eat them here almost every day. In the language of the Ganda people, the largest in this country, banana and food are referred to by one word - "matoke".
In Ugandan markets they are often bought not in pieces, not in bunches, but in whole trunks of fifteen to twenty kilograms. Over 50 varieties of this plant are grown. Some are suitable for frying, others are eaten raw for dessert. Bananas of especially sweet varieties are bought as gifts for children. And ordinary everyday food is prepared from unripe bananas with green peel, tightly attached to the pulp. They are harsh, have an astringent taste and are edible without cooking unless you are very hungry. Such bananas are peeled with a knife, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed, maintaining low heat. After a couple of hours, without unwrapping, rub it with your hands. The result is matoke - a yellow, soft puree that smells like potatoes. This is a side dish for meat, fish or a separate dish, seasoned with nuts and something spicy and spicy. They eat it with their hands. Matoke made from five bananas is considered a completely normal lunch among poor Ugandans. Moreover, to prepare it you just need to go with a knife to the banana that grows behind the house.
You can taste banana juice, beer, and wine. Dried banana leaves are used to weave baskets, bags, rugs, egg containers, and construct rain shelters. They wrap large dense green leaves around the head, preparing to carry basins, bales and other loads on it.
And the most interesting thing is that bananas once did not grow at all in Uganda. They were brought here by the British from India, which today ranks first in the world in banana production. So, y is the second! Look at the size of these two countries on the map and, as they say, feel the difference.
On the night of July 4, 1976, it was hot in Uganda - figuratively even hotter than literally. Because it was on this night in Uganda that the Mossad carried out its most successful operation.
Maxim Rafstein
Despite the growing cynicism in our souls, we are sometimes pleased to know that there are still fairy tales in life with a good ending. And not just good, but also spectacular and heroic. One of the most successful anti-terrorist operations in history, which took place on the territory of Uganda in the summer of 1976, can certainly be called just such a fairy tale.
There is hardly a major international airport in the world that can be called an oasis of peace and tranquility, but on June 27, 1976, the Athens airport undoubtedly broke all records of congestion and confusion. Hundreds of confused passengers scurried around the departure hall. The stampede was partly due to the fact that Greek ground staff, including the police, went on strike. The level of trust reached its peak: the passengers were examined somehow, and even then not all of them.
Despite the confusion, the Air France Airbus A300, flying flight 139 Tel Aviv - Paris with refueling in Athens, taxied to the runway exactly on schedule...
The red sign with the image of a fastened belt has not yet gone out when a woman’s scream is heard in the cabin. A couple of minutes later, a noticeably pale flight attendant appears in front of the passengers and asks the passengers not to worry. The atmosphere of tension becomes unbearable, and then a female voice with a German accent is heard throughout the cabin: “The plane is under the control of the Revolutionary Cells organization and the National Front for the Liberation of Palestine.”
The woman continues to talk, now she is giving commands. All passengers must surrender any weapons or other dangerous items they may have, then raise their hands in the air and remain still.
The flight attendants, following someone's orders, pull back the curtains, and economy class passengers see two terrorists - a decently dressed man with a mustache and beard and a young man of Arab appearance, in their hands they have pistols and grenades without safety locks. Nobody pays any attention to the fact that the “Fasten your seat belts” sign has gone out.
1st day, Sunday
Airbus A300
In absolute silence, the passengers fulfill the next demand of the German woman - they drop their passports into a black plastic garbage bag, with which one of the kidnappers walks around them. More than an hour had passed since they took off from Athens, but no one had told the hostages the purpose of the flight. The flight attendants serve drinks, trying to behave as usual. Sometimes the thick veil of clouds under the plane dissipates. It becomes clear that the plane is flying over water, which the passengers immediately tell each other in a whisper, trying not to attract too much attention.
Finally the plane begins to descend. One of the terrorists loudly announces:
We land in the capital of Libya - Benghazi. Here you will be fed. Be quiet, no one will get off the plane. We will fly further.
The plane sits in Benghazi for seven hours - the maximum time that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi allotted to the terrorists. Shortly after landing, one pregnant passenger successfully fakes labor pains. The frightened terrorists fish out a British citizen's passport from a black bag and hastily drop the woman off. In just a few hours she will be giving evidence to Scotland Yard.
Office of the Prime Minister of Israel
Greek controllers did not immediately notice that Flight 139 had gone silent. But the Israeli intelligence service, which had the habit of listening to all flights on which the overwhelming number of passengers were Jews, instantly compiled a report to the cabinet: “An Air France A300 with 248 passengers on board, half of whom were Jews, either crashed or was hijacked.” terrorists."
This is all? No more information? - Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, with a military background and a receding hairline, having read the report, looked up at the Minister of Transport.
“We are trying to find out the details, but so far we only know that the plane has changed course and is now flying south rather than north.”
Rabin silently leaned back in the leather chair. Maybe this is a misunderstanding? Exactly. The pilot decided that it was cool in Paris, leaned out into the cabin, shouted to the passengers: “Shouldn’t we fly south?” - and everyone supported him... What nonsense! Rabin pressed the button to communicate with the secretary.
All ministers come to me urgently! Yes, and also special forces commander Dan Shomron. And bring some food. I don't think we'll be leaving here any time soon.
Day 2, Monday
Entebbe Airport, Uganda
The sun's glare glides across the endless Lake Victoria, located near Entebbe airport. Early morning. Ugandan Radio reports that "His Excellency Field Marshal Dr. Idi Amin Dada has generously granted the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine the right to house the hostages they have taken at Entebbe Airport."
The hostages are escorted from the plane to the old airport building. A huge room with dirty windows, dusty floors and a variety of chairs. A couple of hours later, Ugandan soldiers place pots of meat and rice, as well as carafes of muddy water, in front of the hostages. Some refuse meat and water because they still believe they are only stuck here for a short time.
In the evening, the hostages are visited by a two-meter giant - President of Uganda Idi Amin Dada. He informs the hostages that he will facilitate their release. After the president leaves, the Ugandan doctor gives each hostage two anti-malaria tablets, which everyone obediently takes.
The Prime Minister is finishing reading the testimony of the Englishwoman at the moment when Defense Minister Shimon Peres enters the office. He has news.
Airplane in Uganda. We are in the hands of this madman.
There is silence for a second, then everyone starts talking at once. “That madman” Idi Amin is not only considered the most odious political leader in the world, but also one of Israel’s main enemies.
Special Forces Commander Dan Shomron asks to speak.
This is the Mossad's chance to show what it can do.
- What a fantasy! - Rabin waved his hand in annoyance towards Shomron. - How do you imagine that? Our planes need to fly over Arab territories, deceive Soviet tracking systems in Somalia... This is unrealistic. Rave. We have at least two days left, we'll wait. Amin enjoys power and attention and will try to stall for time.
Day 3, Tuesday
Entebbe Airport, Uganda
Those hostages who managed to take a nap wake up at dawn. Nobody disdains the muddy water brought by soldiers anymore. Some argue that snorers should sleep in a separate corner. The day passes without incident. Towards evening, a German woman appears in the hall, her pupils are red (possibly due to drugs), she holds a sheet of paper in her hand. Going out to the middle of the hall, the German woman reads out a list consisting entirely of Jewish surnames. Those named must go to the next room. People are scared, some women are crying.
Some people give up meat and water. They still believe they're stuck here for a while
The selection ends, and one of the terrorists turns on the radio. News reports say the French hostages will be released the next day and the Jewish hostages will be exterminated unless the international community agrees to exchange them for 53 convicted terrorists by Thursday.
Prime Minister's Office, Israel
Forty of these terrorists are in Israeli prisons! - Defense Minister Shimon Peres is annoyed. He has loosened the knot of his tie and seems about to break the pencil he is fiercely twirling in his hand.
A cough is heard from the far corner of the office.
Did you want to say something, General Shomron? - Munich, 1972.
Direct hit. Then, during the Olympics, 11 Israeli athletes were captured and killed by the Palestinian organization Black September. The liberation operation was failed by German police armed only with rifles. After the general’s words, there was absolute silence in the office, everyone was waiting for the prime minister’s decision.
Continue negotiations, we must play for time. - Rabin turns to Shomron: - General, I am waiting from you for an operation plan to free Jewish hostages in Uganda. Hurry up.
Day 4, Wednesday
Entebbe Airport, Uganda
French hostages are released in small groups. At the exit from the airport they are seen off by a smiling Idi Amin in a white hat. Several buses take the French to the French embassy in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The very next morning they will be able to hug their loved ones.
Meanwhile, Ugandan soldiers string ropes in front of the airport building. The hostages do not understand why. For sophisticated torture? For mines? Finally, one of the soldiers explains in broken English that women can wash their clothes in the toilet and hang them out to dry. Incredible relief! The evening is spent doing laundry and children playing on the lawn between the drying clothes.
Prime Minister's Office, Israel
The entire table is littered with photographs and maps. Shomron speaks enthusiastically about the preparations for the operation.
We got the drawings of Entebbe airport, it was built by an Israeli construction company. She will build us a model of an airport for training. The airport is guarded by Ugandan troops, about a hundred people. I suggest using a Trojan horse.
Rabin looked at Shomron in amazement, and he quickly explained:
Amin's latest toy is a long black Mercedes. We will find the same one and put our guys in it. The Mercedes will roll out of the plane and calmly drive up to the soldier’s post. In principle, we can even make an effigy of Amin.
Taking a handkerchief from his pocket, the Prime Minister wipes sweat from his forehead. It feels like he's listening to a retelling of a science fiction movie. But today he will have a meeting with the families of the hostages! They will again beg to begin the hostage exchange. It looks like this is the only right solution for now...
Day 5, Thursday
Entebbe Airport, Uganda
Closer to noon, Idi Amin again honors the hostages with a visit. He is kept company by his young son, who is wearing exactly the same dress uniform as his father. Amin delivers the bad news: Israel has still not given a definite answer regarding the hostage exchange. But Amin also has “good” news in store: the ultimatum has been extended until 11 a.m. Sunday.
The rest of the day passes without much incident - for all but four hostages, who are taken in turn by the terrorists to a separate room, where they are intimidated and threatened. The hostages are then returned in an orderly manner to the main hall of the airport, where the French had recently been.
The toilet is clogged and stinks. The radio is working. The evening news reported that Israel had agreed to the kidnappers' terms. The hostages are crying, hugging and preparing to return home soon.
Prime Minister's Office, Israel
It was decided to call the operation “Ball Lightning”. Israeli Air Force Commander Benjamin Peled briefs the Prime Minister on the details.
Two Israeli Air Force Boeing 707s, repainted in El Al colors, will fly the usual commercial route to the only friendly country in the region, Kenya. They will be equipped with field hospitals. As soon as the Boeings land in Nairobi, four Hercules will take off from the base, which, in addition to hundreds of paratroopers, will accommodate half-track all-terrain vehicles and heavy machine guns. As soon as the Hercules leave Israeli airspace, they will descend and fly below the radar coverage.
Yes sir! - the Air Force commander says.
Day 6, Friday
Entebbe Airport, Uganda
On the night from Thursday to Friday, only children sleep in the airport hall. The adult hostages talk quietly, discussing their return. No one believes that the nightmare that lasted almost a week is coming to an end. And indeed, this is not the end. At seven in the morning, a black Mercedes already familiar to the hostages drives up to the airport. This time Amin arrived not only with his son, but also with his last wife - a black beauty in a wide green dress.
We will find the same Mercedes as Amin’s and put our guys in it. Basically, we can make an effigy of Amin
The President reports that Israel refused to meet the terrorists halfway and facilitate the speedy release of its people. Amin recommends that the hostages write an open letter to their government asking them to satisfy the demands of the kidnappers. Leaving the stunned hostages to argue about whether to write a letter or not, Amin leaves the airport building with dignity.
Prime Minister's Office, Israel
Again! Once again, I said it! Faster Faster!
A group of paratroopers led by 30-year-old Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, a Harvard graduate and brother of the future Prime Minister of Israel, runs back to the training Hercules. Ideally, a hostage rescue operation should take no more than 55 minutes. So far, the paratroopers are far from ideal, which gives Dan Shomron the right to urge them on with a shout. But there's a whole night of training ahead. The commandos will be able to get some sleep during the upcoming seven-hour flight to Uganda.
The Hercules pilots don’t rest either. They practice a sharp climb, as well as landing directly on the ground - in case Ugandan soldiers notice the planes and block the landing strip. The Chief of the General Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces, Mordechai Gur, is sitting on one of the planes. Being inside a 70-ton machine, which either soars up or flies down like a stone, Gur feels, to put it mildly, uncomfortable. But now he knows that he can confidently report to the Prime Minister: “Everything is ready.”
7th day, Saturday
On Saturday afternoon, two El Al Boeing 707s, flying a commercial route from Tel Aviv, land one after another at Nairobi Airport. Exactly 20 minutes later, four giant Hercules take off from an Israeli military base.
Only 15 minutes after takeoff, the cabinet of ministers officially gives the go-ahead for the operation: the command “Zanek!” is heard on the military radio. ("Takeoff!"). The connection is then terminated to maintain secrecy. Pilots will have to fly the planes for seven hours, relying only on the radar antenna. Flying high above the Hercules are phantom fighters, each equipped with a device to interfere with enemy radar. They will accompany the Hercules to Ethiopia.
The bulk of the soldiers are in the first plane, in which it becomes difficult to breathe soon after takeoff. Some of the soldiers settle down in jeeps, others take a nap near all-terrain vehicles. It will be especially hard for the soldiers who will pretend to be Ugandans in Amin’s fake Mercedes. They had their faces and hands painted with makeup borrowed from a Tel Aviv theater, and now the “Ugandans” are sweating more than others, crammed into a luxury car.
It is impossible to rise above the clouds due to enemy radars, so pilots guide the winged giants through the clouds and lightning
Airplanes are caught in a thunderstorm over Ethiopia. It is impossible to rise above the clouds due to radar, so pilots guide the winged giants through clouds and lightning. Finally the sky clears. And now the smooth surface of Lake Victoria glimmers on the horizon. The pilots slow down and the planes glide almost silently low over the water.
The airport building is brightly lit, which is alarming. Perhaps the terrorists have already been warned, and then the commandos fly straight into the trap. But it’s too late to retreat: the paratroopers are ready, Lieutenant Colonel Netanyahu and his people are densely packed in the Mercedes. Another second - and the plane's landing gear smoothly touches the landing strip.
Operation in detail
2 00:05-00:06
Confused, because the plane landed completely openly, the Ugandan soldiers of the control tower salute “their president” and immediately fall dead, shot from pistols with silencers by soldiers pouring out of the Mercedes.
3 00:06-00:15
Following the Mercedes, jeeps with recoilless rifles leave the plane, which are mounted with muzzles on the highway leading to the city - in case Amin finds out about the operation and mobilizes tanks.
4 00:15-00:16
There is a doomed silence in the airport hall: the execution of the first hostages is scheduled for the morning. Suddenly, the German guarding the hostages fires a long burst into the ceiling, causing the plaster to fall down. Someone screams as he falls dead. Jumping over the broken glass, an Israeli soldier dressed as a black man bursts into the hall. He shouts in Hebrew and English: “Israel Army! lie down!
5 00:16-00:17
Other soldiers, already in Israeli uniform, run into the hall and shoot at the terrorists running out of the back room. Some of the hostages are trying to crawl away from the battlefield, mothers are covering their children with their bodies, and the room is gradually filling with smoke. During the shootout in the hall, the terrorists guarding the hostages on the first floor were eliminated.
6 00:17-00:54
Special forces from the second and third Hercules are searching the airport building in search of the remaining terrorists, of whom, according to intelligence, there should be at least six. A whole clip of cartridges is fired at a German woman who is ready to throw a grenade at the soldiers. Two more terrorists were killed in the toilet on the second floor. The bodies of the terrorists are immediately photographed and fingerprinted. The remaining soldiers begin to take the hostages out of the hall and escort them to the fourth Hercules, which landed last and, having taken on board the freed hostages, must take off first.
Losses
During the operation, four hostages were killed. Three of them during a shootout between soldiers and terrorists in the Entebbe airport hall. Another hostage, 73-year-old Dora Bloch, who had previously been sent to hospital in Kampala due to poor health, was shot dead the day after the release of the prisoners by the personally angry Idi Amin.
Of the entire capture group, only the leader of the special forces, Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu, hero of the Yom Kippur War, was killed. The operation would later be renamed "Thunderball" to "Yonatan" in his memory.
Bottom line
Operation Thunderball, carried out by the Israeli army on the territory of Uganda on the night of July 3-4, 1976, is considered illegal because it was carried out without the knowledge and permission of the UN Security Council. The UN Secretary-General condemned Israel for “seriously violating the sovereignty of the State of Uganda” but did not impose punitive sanctions against Israel.
Operation Thunderball is the most successful operation to free hostages on enemy territory in the history of the fight against terrorism.
40 years ago, on July 5, 1976, 102 of the 106 hostages taken a week earlier on board an Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris returned safely to Israel. The terrorists managed to hijack the plane to Uganda, far from Israel and Europe, where a friendly dictator, Idi Amin, ruled. But this did not stop the Israelis from planning and brilliantly carrying out a swift anti-terrorist operation.
Editor LJ Media
Israeli military journalist, historian:
On July 4, 1976, in an operation unprecedented in its courage, Israeli paratroopers freed more than a hundred hostages who were captured after the hijacking of an Air France plane by Palestinian terrorists.
The details of Operation Thunderball were first told by one of the main participants in those events - the commander of the squadron of Israeli C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, then lieutenant colonel and now retired Air Force General Yehoshua Shani.
The C-130 crew after the end of the mission in Entebbe. Crew commander Yehoshua Shani is in the center in the first row. From the blog, 1976 On June 27, 1976, an Air France passenger plane was flying from France to Israel and was hijacked by Palestinian terrorists and their German accomplices. On pain of death, the terrorists forced the French pilots to land in the remote Central African country of Uganda, whose president openly supported Palestinian terror.
The crew of the plane was forced by terrorists to land at Entebbe airport near the capital of Uganda, Kampala. The passengers and crew of the hijacked plane were held by terrorists and soldiers of the Ugandan army in the old airport building.
On June 29, following the example of the Nazis, Palestinian terrorists carried out “filtration” - they separated 83 hostages with Israeli passports and Jewish citizens of other countries from non-Jewish passengers of the hijacked plane. Non-Jewish passengers were released. The French crew of the plane, led by the ship's commander, decided to remain with the hostages and share the fate of their passengers until the end. A total of 105 hostages remained - Israeli citizens, Jewish citizens of other states and crew members. The terrorists threatened to kill the hostages.
Despite the absolute confidence of foreign experts who believed that no state had a chance to save the hostages, the Israeli leadership decided to conduct a force operation to free the hostages, called Thunderball. Operation Thunderball began on July 4, 1976
A squadron of four C-130 Hercules transport aircraft with paratroopers on board took off from an airbase on the Sinai Peninsula. The goal of the Israeli pilots was the Ugandan airport of Entebbe, to which they had to overcome 4,000 kilometers.
National Geographic documentary about the Entebbe operation
During the seven and a half hour flight, the squadron's aircraft flew in tight formation, at extremely low altitudes, in complete radio silence, in the absence of air traffic control support from the ground. Israeli pilots made an incredibly risky landing at an enemy airport, virtually blind, on a runway surrounded by enemy soldiers.
The release of the hostages occurred almost instantly: only a few minutes passed from the moment the first shot was fired until all 6 terrorists and 45 Ugandan soldiers guarding the hostages were eliminated. After the hostages were freed, a special Air Force detachment destroyed eight enemy MiG-17 fighter planes and a radar tower at the airfield for fear of possible persecution. An hour after the start of the operation, the first plane with hostages took off for Nairobi to refuel, and 42 minutes later the last Israeli plane left Uganda. The heroic pilots and paratroopers, along with the freed hostages, had a triumphant meeting in Israel.
The whole world received with delight the news of the success of the unprecedentedly courageous operation of Israeli commandos to free the hostages in Entebbe. Only the USSR and its “Arab brothers” vehemently condemned Israel’s victory. Under pressure from the Russians, the UN adopted a resolution in which Israel was once again condemned “for blatant aggression.”
On July 5 of this year, the details of Operation Ball Lightning were first spoken about in an interview with the IDF press service by one of the main participants in those events - the commander of a squadron of Israeli C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, then a lieutenant colonel and now a retired Air Force general, Yehoshua Shani.
Tell us a little about your family
My parents lived in what is now Ukraine. Their small town was part of Poland at that time. With the arrival of the Nazis, the Ukrainians killed all the Jews living there. My parents were lucky - they fled from the Nazis and ended up in Siberia, where I was born in 1945. Wherever we were - in Poland, Ukraine, Russia - everywhere we were refugees and hated strangers.
Shortly after the end of the war, our family ended up in the Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp in Germany. We were there for almost a year. Then we, together with thousands of Jewish Holocaust survivors, made the difficult journey from Germany to Israel.
My parents were Zionists and spoke fluent Hebrew, which they used to communicate with me as a child. They were very glad to come to Israel and start a new life, never again to suffer the fate of refugees and strangers among their enemies.
Have you always wanted to be a pilot?
No, actually. As a teenager, I had no interest in airplanes, but wanted to be an electrical engineer. Everything changed the day I was drafted into the army. I and several other recruits were lying on the grass at the recruiting station when a military man unexpectedly approached us, on whose uniform we saw the silver wings of a pilot. He said, “You have all passed your flying school checks. Who here doesn’t want to volunteer to become a pilot?”
I started to raise my hand, but halfway through I realized that no one around me was raising their hand. So I put my hand down too. The rest is history.
What were you doing when you first joined the Israeli Air Force?
I was drafted in 1963. I received my silver pilot wings in 1965 from the hands of General Ezer Weizmann, who was then commander of the Israeli Air Force. The first plane I started flying on was the Nord Noratlas transport plane. I was also a Fuga flight instructor for two years. The Air Force then sent me to the United States, where I trained as a C-130 Hercules cargo pilot. I was first stationed at Little Rock, Arkansas, and then North Carolina. This was my first visit to the USA.
You were on active duty during Israel's major wars. How did you take part in these wars?
In 1967, during the Six-Day War, I flew my plane to deliver fuel and ammunition to IDF soldiers fighting in the Sinai Peninsula.
In 1973, during the Yom Kippur War, I was a squadron commander. He flew reconnaissance and combat missions on a C-97 Stratofreighter. I flew a C-130 Hercules through the Suez Canal, deep into Egyptian territory, to supply fuel and ammunition to the ground forces advancing into the territory west of the canal. Those forces, by the way, were led by Ariel Sharon.
How did the crisis in Entebbe begin for you?
On June 27, 1976, terrorists hijacked an Air France passenger plane flying from Tel Aviv to Paris. The plane was hijacked by terrorists during a stopover in Athens and hijacked by them to Entebbe, Uganda. Two of the hijackers were members of the German left-wing organization Baader-Meinhof, and two were from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. They demanded the release of 53 terrorists imprisoned in Israel.
On the third day of the crisis, terrorists separated Israeli and Jewish passengers from others. The kidnappers freed the non-Jews and sent them to France. While the rest of the world chattered and did nothing, the IDF was planning a rescue mission in complete secrecy.
How did you first find out that you were going to take part in a hostage rescue operation?
I was at a wedding when the commander of the Israeli Air Force, Major General Benny Peled, approached me and began asking questions about the capabilities of the C-130. It was a strange situation - the Air Force commander, a major general, was asking a lieutenant colonel about the plane. But the C-130 was a new aircraft, and the Air Force command had always been focused on fighters, not transport aircraft. Peled asked me if there was a flight to Entebbe, how long would it take and how much cargo could the C-130 carry? From this conversation I was left with the impression that a rescue operation, impossible under the given conditions, was on the agenda.
How did the operation begin?
We started our flight from the airbase to Sharm el-Sheikh in Sinai, which at that time was under Israeli control. The takeoff from Sharm was one of the most difficult in the history of not only my flying experience, but also that of the plane itself. I had no idea what would happen during takeoff and landing - the plane was overloaded, contrary to all the rules and instructions for piloting.
On board my plane are soldiers of the Sayeret Matkal special forces, led by their commander, Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu. A Mercedes car was also loaded there, which was to mislead the Ugandan soldiers at the airport, since Idi Amin, the dictator of Uganda, had the same car. In addition, Land Rover vehicles were loaded on board my plane, in which the paratroopers were to operate.
I gave the command to take off, and the overloaded plane took off heavily from the ground at the very end of the runway. I headed north, but then turned south, where our target was. The overloaded plane was difficult to control; I literally held it in my arms until it picked up a higher speed. I just tried my best to keep the plane under control - you know, the plane has feelings, and everything turned out well.
The distance to Entebbe is over 2,500 miles (4,000 km). How did you do that?
We had to fly in close proximity to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, in the Gulf of Suez. We were not afraid to violate the airspace of these countries - the flight took place along the route of international flights. The problem was that they could detect us with their radars.
Therefore, we flew very low - at an altitude of only 100 meters above the water, in a group of four aircraft. The main hope was for the effect of surprise - after all, the enemy only had to block the runway with one truck, and then the whole operation would have ended in disaster. So, keeping the operation completely secret was critical to success.
In some places, which are especially dangerous, we were flying at an altitude of 35 feet. I remember reading the altimeter. Believe me, it's scary! In this situation you cannot fly in close formation. During the flight, I, as a squadron commander, did not know whether there were still planes 2, 3 and 4 following me, because we were flying in complete radio silence.
In a C-130, you can't see what's going on behind you. Fortunately, the pilots of the other aircraft in the squadron were very experienced pilots - so from time to time they left the general formation so that I could see them, and then returned to their place as part of the group. This is how I found out that the planes continued to follow me.
What were you thinking as you landed blindly on the Entebbe airstrip, surrounded by enemy soldiers?
What I feared most was not the rocket and artillery fire from the ground; it was the feeling of responsibility for the assigned task that weighed on me, since my mistake as the pilot of an overloaded cargo plane could jeopardize the success of the entire operation. Think about it - how many of our people would have died at Entebbe if I had been wrong?
In case something went wrong, I was prepared for the worst. I was wearing a helmet, body armor, and had an Uzi machine gun. I also received a thick wad of cash in case I had to get out of Uganda after the disaster. Luckily, I never had to use this money. I returned the cash after returning to Israel.
What happened after you landed?
I stopped in the middle of the runway, a group of paratroopers jumped out of the side doors and marked the runway with flashlights so that the other planes following me could land. The paratroopers stormed the control tower. Mercedes and Land Rover came out the back door of my plane and commandos attacked the terminal building where the hostages were being held. At this time, Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu, commander of the Sayeret Matkal, who led the assault, was mortally wounded by fire from Ugandan soldiers.
After the hostages were freed, what were your next actions?
We had a small problem: we needed fuel to fly home. We were flying with a one-way ticket! We were planning several refueling options, and I learned from the operation command that there was a refueling option in Nairobi, Kenya.
50 minutes after landing in Entebbe, I gave the order to the commanders of the aircraft of my squadron: “Everyone who is ready, take off!” I remember with what pleasure I saw plane No. 4 with hostages on board take off from Entebbe - its silhouette melted into the darkness of the night. That's when I realized we had won.
That's all. We did it. The mission was a success.
How were you received in Israel?
The plane carrying the hostages landed at Ben Gurion Airport, where they met with their families. The remaining three planes landed at military airfields.
Yitzhak Rabin, the Prime Minister of Israel, came up to me. I didn't take my uniform off for 24 hours straight, in temperatures over 50 degrees on the plane, so I was dirty and smelly. And here the Prime Minister comes to meet you with open arms. I said - please don't hug me - you might die from it! He, however, hugged me and only said, “Thank you.”
What was it like returning to Israel as a hero?
After my father's death, I discovered his letters from Bergen-Belsen, which he sent to Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek. In them, the father talks about what he experienced during the Holocaust, what happened to his family, etc. I won't discuss it here. One of his letters says: “My only hope and joy is my Yehoshua. He gives me reasons to continue living.”
I mention this letter because 30 years later, when I returned from Entebbe, my father threw a party for me. Family and friends were there to celebrate the success of our mission. My father was in a great mood. I know what he thought as a Holocaust survivor. His son was a lieutenant colonel in the Israeli Air Force at the time and had just flown thousands of kilometers to save Jews. This probably added ten years to his life.
Do you maintain contact with other participants in the operation?
Well, as you probably know, many of them are in the highest echelons of government today. Ehud Barak, the Minister of Defense, was a lieutenant colonel at the time, like me. He was on the operation planning team, and I was the chief pilot. We consulted with each other then, and I see him often these days.
Shaul Mofaz, the newly appointed Deputy Prime Minister, led the destruction of MiG fighters on the ground at Entebbe airport so that our rescue forces could leave Uganda unhindered.
Matan Vilnai was in the cabin with me. Ephraim Sne was on the plane as a doctor. Dan Shomron died several years ago - he was one of the leaders of the entire operation. And, of course, Yoni's brother, Benjamin Netanyahu, is prime minister. I first met him in the early 1980s when he was Deputy Chief of Mission at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC.
How did your career develop after Entebbe?
I continued to serve in the Air Force - over 30 years, in fact. I have 13,000 flight hours, including 7,000 hours as a C-130 pilot. Over the years I commanded three squadrons and a mixed air group of four squadrons and eight ground units.
From 1985 to 1988, I was an Air Force Attache at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC. I retired from active duty in 1989 with the rank of Brigadier General. For ten years after that I was in the reserves. Today I am the vice president of Lockheed Martin, responsible for projects in Israel. I was once a recruit and didn't think about the Air Force, which became my life's work - when you're young, you never know how things will turn out.
in the community:
From a blog in the community During the assault, the commander of the special forces of the General Staff of the Israeli Army, Lieutenant Colonel Yoni Netanyahu, the brother of the current Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, was killed. Since then, the operation has been secretly named in his honor - “Operation Yonatan.”
From a blog in the community "Note to the Prime Minister"
In the mid-1970s, Israel was in the midst of an ongoing war against terror. The country's intelligence services were constantly hunting for activists of various Palestinian organizations, including those who were involved in the murder of Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games in Munich.
The attack on an Air France plane became another link in this chain. For many years it was believed that in the first days after the takeover, the Israeli government tried to find a diplomatic solution to the problem and, according to many historians, was even ready to make concessions and release Palestinian prisoners from prison.
However, 39 years later, declassified documents indicate that this was just a diversionary maneuver, the success of which few in the Israeli leadership hoped for. From the first day of the takeover, then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Defense Minister Shimon Peres firmly believed in the need for a military operation.
From Peres' note to Rabin:
“We are closing all operational details. Along with the SUVs in which the soldiers will drive up to the terminal, it is proposed to take a Mercedes, similar to the car of Amin (ruler of Uganda). Let's add checkboxes to it. Amin should just return to the airport from Mauritius, everything should work out in time.”
From a blog in the community Rabin's response to Peres:
“Do we know when Amin will return exactly? Are you sure this is a Mercedes? How does the operation begin, and what are the overall chances of success?
Perez responds:
“How does the operation begin? Point one - they say that this is impossible. Point two - the chosen time is not suitable. Point three - the government will not approve of it. Of all the things I can see for sure, and I still have vision, is how this operation will end.”
On the occasion of the publication of the archives, Shimon Peres said in an interview with the Maariv newspaper that the decision-making process to launch a military operation was very difficult:
“When I voiced the military option and proposed sending our special forces to Uganda, many considered me an irresponsible minister,” Perez recalls. “I never blamed them, because they, like me, clearly understood what would happen if, in addition to the hostages, we also lost a hundred of our best fighters.”
From a blog in the community Among the opponents of such a daring operation was the then Chief of the General Staff, Mordechai (Mota) Gur. He expressed his assessment in a personal conversation with Perez. In his opinion, the Hercules transport planes, on which the special forces were supposed to be sent, could not fly from Israel to Uganda without refueling. However, having received the order to prepare for the assault, he had no choice but to obey. The solution for "Hercules" was found. Israel has agreed with the authorities of neighboring Kenya to provide the airspace of this country and the airport in Nairobi for the subsequent evacuation of the hostages. Direct leadership of the operation was entrusted to General Yekutiel Adam. He was on a plane circling over Entebbe airport. Another plane was equipped as a flying hospital.
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin greets the hostages rescued in Entebbe after their arrival in Israel, from a blog in the community Historical diary
For the first time, the so-called operational diary of the operation became public. Using his notes, it is possible to reconstruct the entire process of making a decision on the release of hostages in detail. True, some fragments still remain secret. Experts say that this is due to the working methods of Israeli special forces, which are used in the Israeli army even today, many years later. A few hours before flying to Uganda, Perez gathered in his office the army leadership and some of the officers participating in the upcoming assault. According to Peres, Air Force Commander Benny Peled asked him what the Israeli political leadership was counting on - to capture just the airport or all of Uganda? “Peled said that a hundred soldiers were enough to storm the airport, but at least a thousand were needed to capture the whole of Uganda,” Perez recalls. “I said that the second option is not even being considered, and the main goal is to return the hostages home.”
Ugandan soldiers pray for the repose of the souls of their fallen comrades, eastnews.ru, July 9, 1976 From declassified records of operational details:
“Time 16:15: the first plane is on its way. We are waiting for the second group”/
“Time 16:18: departure delayed by 10 minutes, the group arrived in military uniform, we need to change them into civilian clothes.”
“Time 16:30: the second plane took off.”
"Time 22:30: First plane lands in Nairobi."
"Time 23:18: The plane landed at Entebbe."
“Time 23:48: There is silence at Entebbe airport - hostages and wounded are being transported to one of the planes. Preparations are underway for departure to Nairobi.”
“Time 23:51: There are dead among the hostages, one of the soldiers is seriously wounded. It is not yet clear whether the special forces were able to destroy the MIGs of the Ugandan Air Force.”
“Time 02:00: All aircraft landed safely in Nairobi for refueling. Israel is preparing to welcome the planes.”
From a blog in the community
