The present work is based on more than seventy taped interviews, mostly with participants of the raid at Entebbe. They included the organizers, planners and fighters assigned to the mission. I also examined the written reports of the squad leaders from the Unit (General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, or Sayeret Matkal), describing various phases of the action. Additionally, I utilized transcripts of interviews conducted in July 1976 by Israel Defence Forces Radio researcher Dani Veseli with three of the Unit’s participants in the raid, as well as taped statements made in July 1986 during a commemorative meeting of the Entebbe operation, by several reserve members of the Unit who described the raid and the preparations that led to it. Of assistance also were materials culled from a few broadcasts and published accounts, which helped me complete the overall picture.
Because the identities of some of the Unit’s members remain classified, I have referred to them by their first names alone.
Unless otherwise indicated, the quotes included are from taped interviews.