In the meantime, the first Hercules took off from Lod Airport at 1320hrs. As it was the Sabbath, the remaining four aircraft followed at five-minute intervals, each heading in a different direction; a fleet of aircraft flying in formation would have been too obvious to inquisitive eyes below on the beaches of Tel Aviv, Eilat or Netanya, let alone to Soviet surveillance ships. At the very last moment, vital intelligence arrived. As Dan Shomron later recalled:
When we were already on the plane before takeoff to Sharm el-Sheikh, there appeared a car with a driver with a case of documents in his hands, asking where is ‘Kaka’ [the head of the Mossad, Yitzhak ‘Kaka’ Hofi]. Kaka’s in a government meeting in Jerusalem, we tell him and he starts to get back in the car. My intelligence officer, a most alert young man, Amnon Biran, jumps on him and really tears the package out of his hands. ‘That's not for you, it’s for Kaka,’ the man shouts, and we tell him: ‘It’s precisely for us.’ We climbed back up on the plane, opened the envelope and there were good photos of the area.
These were the aerial photographs of Entebbe Airport taken by the Mossad agent from his ‘stricken’ plane just the day before, including crucial shots of the Old Terminal.
The Hercules flew nap-of-the-earth and in complete radio silence to avoid Soviet surveillance vessels in the Mediterranean Sea. Their efforts were almost compromised by a pilot of the Israeli airline Avira who, as the Karnafs came in to land at Ofira, broadcast to the world: ‘There seems to be a party going on down there.’ The Hercules aircraft congregated at Ofira since it was the southernmost air base in the Sinai Peninsula. There they were topped up with fuel for the final 2,484-mile, eight-hour flight to Entebbe. ‘The flight to Sharm el-Sheikh was the most difficult I had ever had,’ recounts Amir Ofer, echoing the feelings of his comrades in arms. ‘I threw up many times, it was very hot. Flying beneath the radar there was so much turbulence. When I got to Sharm el-Sheikh I couldn’t take it anymore. The doctor gave me [air sickness] pills to take. And I was so afraid that I would collapse that I took one every hour for the rest of the flight.’ The aircraft were soon awash with vomit and on arrival at Ofira, one soldier of the assault team was so ill that he could not continue, and had to be replaced by Sgt Amos Goren. Once on the ground, the members of the Sayeret Matkal teams changed into Ugandan paratroopers’ camouflage uniforms and green berets (items that had been manufactured in Israel when there had still been an IDF military mission in Uganda). As the ground force commander, Dan Shomron had to make a critical decision:
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules was critical to the success of Operation Thunderbolt. In the Israeli Air Force or Chel Ha’Avir, the C-130 Hercules is known as Karnaf or Rhinoceros. By July 1976, there were two squadrons of the C-130H model in service with No103 ‘Flying Elephant’ and No131 ‘Yellow Bird’. The latter undertook the raid on Entebbe. There were also two KC-130H aerial refuelling aircraft within No103 Squadron at the time of Operation Thunderbolt and it remains a mystery as to whether they actually took part in the mission.
When we reached Ofira there still wasn’t an approval and so I arranged with ‘Froika’ [BrigGen Ephraim Furer, the Military Secretary to the prime minister] that we would set out to Entebbe and that we had four to five hours’ flight time to the point of no return, so that if the government did not approve the operation, we would be able to turn back. I admit that a decision like that would have saddened me very much. But after a few minutes ‘Froika’ gave me the go-ahead for this arrangement and I understood from this that the prime minister was basically inclined towards approving the operation.
While at Ofira, Yoni Netanyahu gave his troops a final briefing. As always, he had a book tucked into his webbing. This one was a thriller novel by Alistair MacLean. Its title was The Way to Dusty Death.
With temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius), the grossly over-laden transport planes clawed their way skywards through the thin desert air after lumbering along the whole length of the undulating runway. They needed virtually every inch of its 1½ mile length. The normal take off weight was 155,000lb. In wartime, permission was usually granted for a maximum weight of 175,000lb but on take off from Ofira Air Base, the load was a staggering 180,000lb. The prevailing winds and weather required the aircraft to take off northwards for at least 15 miles before attempting to bank gently, no more than five degrees at a time, or else they would vibrate and shudder to the point of stalling. Due to the wideness of their turns, the aircraft were forced to encroach Saudi Arabian airspace before they could head on a southerly course. Having evaded this hazard, they then faced the gauntlet of the Red Sea with hostile nations to each side. Flying in loose formation, the aircraft maintained a height of less than 100ft to avoid radar detection, with the pilots periodically updating the pressure altimeter from the radar altimeter. The aircrew kept constant radar watch for ships below so that if necessary, the air armada could alter course to avoid being sighted. These manoeuvres caused repeated deviations from the planned flight path. Each time it took careful calibration by the navigators to return to the correct course. Such flying was immensely tiring and each pilot undertook little more than 15 minutes at the controls at a time. Once clear of the major Egyptian and Saudi Arabian radar sites but before coming into range of the French surveillance facility in Djibouti and the Soviet one at Berbera in Somalia, the Hercules turned southwards over Ethiopia. There they rose to a height of 2,000ft, above small arms range but below the capabilities of the rudimentary air traffic control system in the country.
Several hours after the Hercules had taken off, the two Boeing 707s took to the air from Lod Airport, their higher speed allowing them to arrive over Kenya at the same time as the transport aircraft. In their improvised colours, the converted airliners flew at a conventional height following the standard El Al route to the Republic of South Africa.
Back at the Kirya, the cabinet meeting continued to debate the possibility of heavy casualties with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin presenting an estimate of between 15 and 20 fatalities. Eventually, the cabinet gave its unanimous agreement for Operation Thunderbolt to proceed. Even so, Rabin then sought the approval of the Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, Itzhak Navon, and the Knesset opposition leaders, Menachem Begin and Elimelech Rimalt. Ordinarily Israeli politics are deeply divisive but all three gave their unreserved support, despite the estimate of casualties, to which the hardline Begin responded: ‘One must always hope for the best. One must believe and try to ensure that there will be no casualties. But if, Heaven forfend, these happen, they’ll be of people who fell in battle and not as victims of butchery and savagery.’ He concluded with the words: ‘May The Almighty bless the way of the warriors.’
Accounts differ as to when Operation Thunderbolt was actually authorized; some members of The Unit believed it was at Ofira while LtCol Joshua Shani has no recollection of ever receiving the order. As commander of the ground operation, BrigGen Dan Shomron was in the lead Karnaf with Shani and recalls: ‘Somewhere over Ethiopia we received a cryptic message – “Efrez. Mazel tov. Authorized. Good Luck”.’ The aircraft continued to plough through the tropical night.
In the Old Terminal at Entebbe, the plight of the hostages was now perilous. Many had already fallen ill with diarrhoea and vomiting after eating contaminated meat. The coming of the Sabbath had been marked with the pitiful lighting of a couple of candles, and morale continued to decline as the deadline loomed. It had dropped even further following another visit by President Idi Amin at 1645hrs on his premature return from Mauritius, and the hostages had to face another uncomfortable night in the sultry heat. Only the young retained any optimism as they played their endless games of football with an old cola can. Benny Davidson, only 12 years old, even assured his mother that the IDF would come to rescue them that very night. His mother, Sarah Davidson, remained unconvinced as she was unable to conceive how the IDF could implement a rescue operation at such a vast distance.
For Operation Thunderbolt, three of the four C-130 Hercules aircraft that landed at Entebbe had significantly greater payloads than permitted even in wartime. The four aircraft were 4X-FBA/102; 4X-FBB/106; 4X-FBQ/420 and 4X-FBT/435. Here, 4X-FBB discharges various vehicles during an Israeli Air Force Day demonstration. Above the registration number is the insignia of No120 ‘International’ Squadron that was first equipped with the C-130 in Israeli service in October 1971 operating out of Lod Airport.
Unknown to her, that distance was diminishing rapidly by the mile. The Hercules were thundering above the jungle canopy of Africa. With the remarkable facility some soldiers have when facing action, many slept in, on, or under the vehicles. Others found sleep impossible. Most were exhausted from the days of intensive training and rehearsal, and from the atrocious flight to Ofira. With 30 minutes remaining to touch down, everyone was roused for a final equipment check. Rani Cohen, who had fallen asleep soon after leaving Ofira in the belief the mission would be cancelled mid-flight, was extremely surprised to find he was now approaching Uganda. The assault teams took turns to focus the tactical lights on their Kalashnikovs at the optimum killing distance. Yoni Netanyahu moved among his men with words of encouragement and advice. Over northern Kenya, the air armada encountered a massive tropical storm. There was no way around it. As the aircraft pounded on, horribly buffeted, the dreadful, debilitating scourge of airsickness returned to many of the assault force. However, in some ways the storm worked to their advantage as it degraded the radar systems over East Africa. As streaks of lightning flashed through the night and thunderclaps cracked loudly above the noise of the engines, Operation Thunderbolt seemed to be a most appropriate name for such a mission. Above Kisuma, the aircraft wheeled right towards Lake Victoria, dipping low over the vast inland sea. Circling high above, the command and control Boeing carried generals Adam and Peled and their communications team. Shortly before 2300hrs, Kuti Adam sent the terse message to Tel Aviv: ‘Over Jordan!’, denoting the air armada was in fact over Lake Victoria. The second Boeing 707 had already landed at Nairobi Airport at 2225hrs and, in the event that the Kenyan Government would give permission for the rescue aircraft to land, the medical teams immediately prepared the operating theatres for the expected casualties. While three of the Hercules circled low above the lake, Shani turned towards Uganda. The AWADS radar picked up the airport at 2 miles out but no runway lights were discernible through the rain until, at the last moment, they became faintly visible. This was the critical moment. The Karnaf flared and landed. The length of the runway allowed it to slow down using only the brakes, not needing to use the reverse thrust which would have created excessive noise. The inboard engines were immediately cut to reduce the sound signature further. Joshua Shani briefly clicked on his radio to relay the safe landing. Even as the C-130 was rolling to a halt, troops of Sayeret Tzanhanim jumped out to place emergency landing lights for the following aircraft.4
3 July 1976
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ACTIONS |
1 2300 hours (Israeli time) Hercules One touches down and stops on the diagonal runway.
2 Sayeret Tzanhanim paratroopers leap from the side doors of Hercules One and place emergency landing lights along the edges of the runway.
3 The motorcade of the Mercedes Benz limousine and two Land Rovers carrying the 29-man assault team of Sayeret Matkal disembark from Hercules One on the diagonal runway and drives towards the Old Terminal at a steady speed.
4 Sayeret Tzanhanim paratroopers then advance towards the New Terminal building.
5 Sayeret Tzanhanim paratroopers take up positions to occupy the New Terminal once the assault on the Old Terminal begins.
6 Hercules Two lands at 2306 and positions itself adjacent to the diagonal runway where two armed jeeps disembark to support the assault.
7 Some Sayeret Tzanhanim paratroopers advance to take up positions in readiness for the assault on the new control tower.
8 With Hercules Three just 200 feet above the ground the airport lights are switched off but fortunately the emergency lights placed by the paratroopers allow it to land safely.
Prior to landing, Amitzur Kafri said a prayer as he turned the ignition of the Mercedes Benz. It fired first time. In the back of the second Land Rover, Amir Ofer began to prepare for the impending assault on the Old Terminal building:
The moment that the wheels touched the ground I immediately loaded my weapon – a Klatch [AK47 Kalashnikov]. One of my friends shouted: ‘Don’t load your weapon in the plane.’ But I told him to shut up. This is a real war. No rules anymore! Then when the rear ramp opened I was expecting to see tigers or lions or giraffes or whatever on the airfield but there was nothing, it was a standard airstrip like everywhere else in the world.
The lead Karnaf turned on to the taxiway to the Old Terminal and stopped. It was just 30 seconds behind schedule, 2300hrs Israeli time, midnight in Uganda. The rear ramp was lowered fully and the three vehicles disembarked. Muki Betser broke radio silence for a moment and sent the codeword to the assault teams for all weapons to be set to single shot mode for selective firing so as to minimize danger to the hostages. At a steady 25mph, they motored in procession towards the Old Terminal, its bright lights spilling out onto the rain-slicked concrete. Some 275yds short, a Ugandan soldier appeared on each side of the approach road. The one to the right raised his rifle at the approaching vehicles. The other disappeared into the darkness. Sitting in the front passenger seat closest to the threat, Yoni Netanyahu made an instant decision. He barked an order to the driver to cut to the right enabling a clear line of fire as behind him, Giora Zusman cocked his .22cal Beretta pistol fitted with a suppressor. Both Netanyahu and Zusman fired repeatedly at a distance of some 33ft. The Ugandan soldier fell to the ground but the small calibre rounds were not sufficient to kill him. As he staggered to his feet and aimed his rifle at the Mercedes Benz, the sharp crack of a Kalashnikov was heard from the following Land Rover, shattering the stillness of the night. Immediately the other Ugandan soldier reappeared on the roadway, illuminated by the headlights of the car. Sgt Amnon Peled, manning the vehicle-mounted machine gun of the following Land Rover, fired a burst but missed. Clamping his GPMG tighter, he fired another long burst as the Ugandan ran into the stream of bullets.
All secrecy was now lost in the fusillade of gunfire. Yoni Netanyahu ordered Kafri to drive as fast as possible to the Old Terminal but now the Ugandan guards began to open fire, with those on the control tower having a clear view of the approaching vehicles. Realizing immediately how vulnerable his Sayeret Matkal fighters were in their packed vehicles, Netanyahu commanded the driver to get as close to the control tower as possible in order to reduce the angle of fire. Once there, he ordered Amitzur Kafri to stop. The men of The Unit leapt from the vehicles in some disorder as Netanyahu shouted to them to storm the building. The assault force was some 55yds short of it. To Muki Betser, the plan was unravelling before his eyes: ‘The tragedy of Ma’alot came back to me and the word Ma’alot, Ma’alot beat inside my head. I felt it was going to happen again.’ On the second floor of the Old Terminal, Capt Isaac Bakka of the Ugandan Air Force recalls: ‘I heard a plane landing and then I hear boots thumping. Some of the infantrymen who had been deployed around the terminal began to speak to each other in Swahili – “Maybe the Children of God are coming.” That was a joke among the soldiers who use the term for Israeli soldiers or Israeli people as the Children of God are described in the Bible.’ For many of them and for the terrorists, the joke was to be short-lived.
The Israeli troops charged forward with the assault teams becoming hopelessly intermingled. At the forefront, Muki Betser fired at the fleeting targets of Ugandan soldiers as they emerged out of the darkness. Spotting a terrorist outside the front doors of the Old Terminal, he again took aim, but his shots went wide and the terrorist ran back into the hostage area. He recalls:
I knew I had used up most of the magazine creating the cover fire in order to reach the control tower. But I also knew that once inside I only needed a few bullets to do the job. Now, surprised by the terrorist, I aimed and fired. Only a couple of bullets spat out of the barrel and I missed. He ducked back into the building.
The terrorist was, in fact, Wilfred Böse, who burst back into the departure hall and aimed his weapon at the cowering hostages while reportedly shouting: ‘The Ugandans have gone crazy. They’re shooting at us.’ Outside, Muki Betser hesitated by the corner of the building as he exchanged magazines on his weapon. Other soldiers followed suit. The assault momentarily faltered. The slightest delay could prove fatal for the hostages. Immediately, Yoni Netanyahu urged his troops onwards as he rushed to the fore. Sprinting from the second Land Rover, Sgt Amir Ofer feared he was lagging behind his team leader, Lt Amnon Peled, but he was the first to reach the hall containing the hostages. Ofer vividly recalls the moment as he ran to the entrance door and came face to face with a gunman:
The glass was broken by someone lying on the floor shooting automatic gunfire at me – the bullets flashed one to the right, one to the left, one beneath my legs, one behind my legs, one past my left ear… I counted later what was left in his magazine, he had shot about 15 bullets at me, only God knows how he missed me, there was not even a mark on me – it was amazing. The range was something like [23–33ft]… We shot at each other and finally I saw his head drop. I rushed in, shot him again, looked to the right and realized I was unintentionally alone. I was the first to arrive.
Fayez Abdul-Rahim Jaber was the first terrorist to die.
Unknown to Ofer, Wilfred Böse and Brigitte Kuhlmann were crouching on the ground to his left. They immediately turned their guns in his direction as if to shoot him in the back. At that moment Amnon Peled burst through the doors killing them both in a barrage of automatic gunfire. Tragically, the random fire from Fayez Jaber prior to his death had found its mark. Outside, Yoni Netanyahu slumped to the ground with gunshot wounds to the chest and arm. The Unit doctor David Hassin, along with members of the command group, dragged Netanyahu’s bleeding body to the limited cover of an open lattice wall that ran parallel to the terminal building. There, Hassin began emergency treatment but within moments he realized that Yoni Netanyahu was severely wounded.
Mindful of Netanyahu’s specific orders not to stop for the fallen, his soldiers continued the assault. Amos Goren and Muki Betser charged into the main hall as a second Palestinian terrorist emerged from behind a concrete column and raised his Kalashnikov. In a remarkable stroke of good fortune, Goren’s bullet struck the cylinder of the terrorist’s gun, preventing the ejection of ammunition despite the fact that it had already been fired.
Two hostages, 56-year-old Ida Borochovitch, a Russian Jew who had emigrated to Israel, and 52-year-old Pasco Cohen, a medical insurance fund manager, were fatally injured in the crossfire. Borochovitch had been shot in the heart and Cohen in the pelvis. Hostage Ilan Hartuv, the son of Dora Bloch, recalls the moment the gunfire erupted:
OVERLEAF At the moment of the Sayeret Matkal assault, Sgt Amir Ofer returns fire through the glass doors of the Old Terminal building, killing the terrorist Fayez AbdulRahim Jaber. Attached to his webbing is a loudhailer to give instructions to the hostages while on his back is a knapsack containing demolition charges. Behind him are Amos Goren and Muki Betser who was in command of the assault force. Rushing pass them is the assault team commanded by Danny Arditi whose task was to eliminate the terrorists in their living quarters at the end of the Old Terminal. In the middle ground, another assault team is attacking the Old Terminal. To their rear is the command team of LtCol Yoni Netanyahu shown at the moment when he was hit and mortally wounded by terrorist fire from within the Old Terminal. In the background is the assault team of Capt Yiftah Reicher as they attack the Customs Hall and second floor of the Old Terminal where most of the Ugandan soldiers were billeted. Stationed close to the Mercedes Benz limousine and the two Land Rovers in the far background, the Arnon Epstein’s support team is attempting to suppress the fire from the old Control Tower that was to delay the evacuation of the hostages until it had been fully eliminated.
We heard shooting and saw what looked like tracer fire. We realized somebody was shooting at the terrorists but we didn’t know who it was. Then the soldiers started pouring in and although they were dressed like Ugandans I said it was the Tzahal [Israeli Army] and everybody started shouting: ‘Nes! Nes!’ [Hebrew for miracle]. When the Israelis arrived we couldn’t believe it. We had talked a lot about the possibility and we even had two reserve colonels from the Israeli Air Force among us who said it couldn’t be done.
As the gunfire subsided, a dark figure jumped up from the floor. He was immediately cut down by automatic fire. Tragically, it was a 19-year-old French Jew named Jean-Jacques Maimoni. A survivor of the Nazi concentration camps, Yitzhak David, went to his aid but was shot through the left shoulder and the bullet entered his lung. Remembering the megaphones they were carrying, both Amir Ofer and Amos Goren barked out orders in English and Hebrew: ‘Koolam lishkav! Everybody lie down! Tzahal! We are the Israeli Army!’ Despite these instructions, another shape rose up from the ground. Two Kalashnikovs were immediately trained on the figure but in the split second before firing, Peled and Goren realized it was a little girl and raised their rifles. An older man also stood up but the other hostages shouted at the soldiers to hold their fire. Like many captives, Sarah Davidson had whiled away the weary hours in the oppressive heat playing endless games of cards. She later recounted the moment when the hostages realized that their rescue was at hand:
Suddenly we hear a shot followed by a burst. We throw the cards down and exchange looks. The terrorists reach for their weapons. They seemed confused. In a split second we dive to the ground…The shooting subsides. Someone shouts ‘Israeli soldiers’. Are we saved? We lift our heads slowly in disbelief and we see the most magnificent sight of our lives – like a dream, a short soldier, his face darkened, in battle fatigues wearing a white hat and holding a large machine gun. He looks at us calmly and says: ‘Are you all right? Come on we’ve come to take you home.’
All four terrorists guarding the hostages were dead. The shooting had lasted little more than 45 seconds. No doubt it was with relief that Muki Betser radioed to the command group: ‘Have hostages. Team intact. No casualties.’ The response he received was as ominous as it was brief: ‘Yoni’s down!’
Just four minutes had passed from the moment the first Hercules touched down until the four terrorists guarding the hostages had been killed. The carefully planned element of surprise had succeeded but at the cost of four dead or dying Israelis; one for each terrorist eliminated in the departure hall.
Meanwhile, the other assault forces were attacking their designated targets. The team under the command of Lt Amos Ben-Avraham stormed into the main hall as the firing subsided. Soldiers from various assault teams raced for the end doors of the building where the terrorists had made their living quarters. The ‘Room of Separation’ was also situated in this area but Israeli intelligence did not know whether any hostages were still being held there. Lt Giora Zusman was the first to enter. He sprayed the room with automatic fire, noting the pile of Israeli passports on the table. As there was no-one to cover him, he retired outside to the hallway to reload. Just then, two members of his team raced past, firing into the kitchen area at the end of the hallway. They found two dead Ugandan soldiers slumped on the floor. Shlomo Reisman and Ilan Blumer soon arrived although they had both been assigned to Amnon Peled’s team. Men of yet another team commanded by Danny Arditi were trying to enter the terrorists’ living quarters via another door, but it was locked. One of his men threw a hand grenade through the window but on hitting the frame, it bounced back. In the ensuing explosion, one soldier was wounded in the leg by shrapnel.
Zusman and Reisman ventured further into the smoke-filled building followed by Tamir Prado, Yoni’s radioman. They soon encountered two men dressed in civilian clothes with no obvious weapons and their hands raised distractedly. Zusman passed them by thinking they were hostages, but Reisman noticed a webbing belt with grenades attached. Unable to fire since Zusman was in his line of attack, he shouted: ‘They’re terrorists! Shoot them!’ but Zusman called back: ‘No. They’re hostages!’ Stepping aside to get a clear angle, Reisman shot them dead. A primed grenade rolled from a lifeless hand. The Israelis threw themselves to the ground. Fortunately, the bodies of the dead terrorists absorbed the force of the blast along with most of the grenade fragments, and Reisman only suffered a cut lip. By now Danny Arditi’s team had penetrated the building and was engaged in clearing the remaining rooms, assisted by Amos Ben-Avraham and his squad. Once the area was secured, the body of another terrorist was found. The final terrorist death toll amounted to seven, comprising the two Germans Wilfred Böse and Brigitte Kuhlmann, and five Palestinians – Fayez Abdul-Rahim Jaber, Abu Ali, Abdul Razag, Khaled al-Khalil and Jayel Naji al-Arjam. All were fingerprinted and photographed for positive identification later. The other three terrorists including the leader, Fouad Awad, were staying the night in Kampala and thus escaped with their lives.
At the other end of the building, the team of Capt Yiftah Reicher attacked the customs hall and the second floor of the Old Terminal where the Ugandan soldiers were quartered. The ground floor was quickly cleared with several Ugandan military killed. Two more were shot dead at the top of the stairs. Leaving one member of the team to cover the corridor, doorways and staircase, Reicher and Rani Cohen rushed into the end room. This had once been a restaurant but was now the sleeping area for the Ugandan soldiers. Festooned with blankets and sleeping bags, it was deserted. Most of the soldiers had fled from the ‘Children of God’ at the outset of the assault, jumping out of the second floor windows and fleeing into the night. As they turned to go back, Reicher and Cohen both saw the silhouette of two figures. They opened fire simultaneously. A shattering of glass revealed that they had shot at themselves in a mirror. They then climbed up on to the roof of the building that had once been a canopied drinking and dining area. From there they witnessed the ongoing fire-fight between the support team of Arnon Epstein together with the soldiers manning the machine guns on the Land Rovers, and the Ugandan soldiers firing down from the control tower. As planned, Epstein’s team had followed Reicher and his men into the customs hall but, after killing some of the African soldiers missed by the first assault team, they were unable to find the stairs. As the tempo of firing increased outside, they returned to the aircraft apron to engage the Ugandan troops in the control tower. The latter’s stubborn resistance was to continue for some time.
Throughout the assault at the Old Terminal, BrigGen Dan Shomron had waited near the end of the runway with his senior communications officer, LtCol Haim Oren, and three other officers of his command group. Until the arrival of the second Hercules with his communications vehicle, there was little he could do but watch his paratroops attack the New Terminal once firing by the Sayeret Matkal had commenced. Exactly on schedule the second Hercules, piloted by LtCol Nathan ‘Nati’ Dvir, came in to land six minutes after the first. As it taxied along the runway, an airport fire truck with flashing lights drove along the adjoining service road. Suddenly it stopped and its lights went out. Moments later, in three distinct phases, the main runway lights, the lights along the taxiways and then those illuminating the aircraft apron were also extinguished. Nevertheless the two armed jeeps under the command of Maj Shaul Mofaz, as well as Shomron’s command vehicle, were swiftly unloaded. LtCol Amnon Biran, Intelligence Officer of the Infantry and Paratroop Command, immediately erected the radio antenna to establish communications with the forces on the ground and the airborne command aircraft. Driven by LtCol Moshe Shapiro, the jeep promptly picked up Shomron and the remainder of his command group and followed the armed jeeps to the Old Terminal. Meanwhile, as the runway was plunged into darkness, the third Hercules carrying the other two armed jeeps was coming in to land. With the plane just 300ft above the landing strip, the pilot showed commendable skill, slowing his descent until the aircraft was squarely aligned with the emergency beacons before putting the heavily laden Karnaf down on the second half of the runway. With no noise constraints, Arieh Oz immediately engaged full reverse thrust and braked hard to bring the Hercules to a shuddering halt. The second pair of armed jeeps were hastily unloaded and driven to the Old Terminal in support of the other two vehicles. The fourth C-130 Hercules landed soon afterwards and by 2308hrs, all four aircraft were on the ground.
3 July 1976
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ACTIONS |
1 2303 hours: Sayeret Matkal assault team approaches the Old Terminal building and storms the building.
2 Simultaneously the paratroopers of Sayeret Tzanhanim occupy the New Terminal, new control tower and refuelling depot without firing a shot, although one paratrooper is critically injured by a Ugandan policeman.
3 An armed jeep takes up position on the military runway to block this approach to the Old Terminal and the team also destroys the eight Ugandan Air Force MiGs parked here.
4 While one armed jeep engages the Old Control Tower, the other two jeeps cover the area to the immediate north of the Old Terminal.
5 At 2308 hours, Hercules Four lands and the Israeli Air Force refuelling team disembarks together with two pick-up trucks.
6 Once the fighting subsides sufficiently, the hostages are evacuated from the Old Terminal. The Sayeret Golani form a V-shaped funnel of soldiers leading to the rear ramp of Hercules Four to guide the hostages in the dark and to protect them from any Ugandan fire.
7 105 hostages are loaded aboard Hercules Four together with the dead and wounded. The aircraft departs for Nairobi.
8 0040 hours: Hercules Two and Three depart from Entebbe with all the remaining troops and vehicles.
As soon as the fire-fight began at the Old Terminal, the paratroopers of the Sayeret Tzanhanim rushed forward to storm the New Terminal, the control tower and the associated airport facilities including the fuel storage compound. Under the command of Col Matan Vilnai, the buildings were quickly captured. Few people were inside except some civilians, airport workers and policemen who were corralled together without a shot being fired. In order to prevent any bullets being accidentally discharged among the civilians, the paratroopers were ordered to keep the safety catches engaged on their Galil rifles. However, during a search of the upper floors tragedy struck. Sgt Surin Hershko, just days away from completing his military service, was climbing a stairwell with a central column that obscured upward vision. Suddenly he encountered a Ugandan civilian and policeman coming down towards him. The policeman had a pistol in his hand and immediately fired two shots at a range of 3ft. The first missed but the second struck Hershko in the neck. He fell to the floor bleeding profusely. These were the only shots fired during the whole operation to occupy the New Terminal. The bullet lodged in Hershko’s spine and he was paralysed for life as a quadriplegic. Once the control tower was occupied, the Israeli Air Force technicians ascertained where the master switches were located to operate the runway lights, in order to allow the Hercules to take off again. They also established a refuelling capability for the aircraft with the portable pump they had brought with them as a back-up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposes a toast with Gen Shaul Mofaz who was the 16th IDF Chief of Staff between 1996 and 1999. The red beret identifies Gen Mofaz as a paratrooper, but during the raid on Entebbe he was a member of Sayeret Matkal when he commanded the contingent of Armoured Fighting Vehicles that acted as a protection force against intervention by the Ugandan Army. As the younger brother of Yoni, Benjamin Netanyahu stated: ‘Yonatan’s death at Entebbe marked a unique turning point in the world’s battle against terrorism. After Entebbe, it was very difficult to argue that you had no choice but to surrender to terrorism.’ Following the Entebbe raid, Netanyahu founded the Yonatan Institute for the Study of Terrorism.
By now, Dan Shomron had learned that Yoni Netanyahu had been wounded and Muki Betser had assumed command of the Sayeret Matkal contingent. The stubborn resistance from the Ugandan troops on the control tower precluded the immediate evacuation of the hostages, even though the fourth Hercules had landed and was now waiting for the order to approach the Old Terminal. Under the direction of Arik Ron from Netanyahu’s command group, Maj Shaul Mofaz brought the firepower of his armed jeep to bear on the control tower, causing its .50cal machine guns and RPGs to gouge large chunks out of the structure. As planned, the companion jeep took up position covering the military runway and its MiG jets, while the second pair of jeeps covered the approach roads from Kampala to the north of the Old Terminal. Meanwhile, Yoni Netanyahu was evacuated on one of the Land Rovers to Dr Ephraim Sneh’s medical staff who had landed in the last Hercules. There, Dr Eran Dolev and the resuscitation team fought desperately to save his life but he had suffered almost total blood loss and, despite their best efforts, his life ebbed away.
When the firing at the control tower had subsided sufficiently, the fourth Karnaf with its 16-man contingent of Sayeret Golani was called forward. Once in position some 165yds from the Old Terminal, the Golani soldiers formed a funnel towards the rear ramp of the aircraft to prevent distracted hostages from wandering off into the dark. Chaos reigned inside the main hall as the former captives rummaged around for their belongings, despite being ordered to leave immediately; one, incredibly, insisted on returning to collect his duty-free goods. Precious minutes were lost as some insisted on dragging their luggage with them, overcrowding the Land Rovers as they were shuttled to the waiting C-130. When the hostages emerged, renewed firing erupted from the control tower. Once more, the jeep poured fire into the building until the fusillade diminished. Inside the hall, there was pandemonium. Some hostages were still seeking treasured items or even their shoes. Clad only in her underwear because of the heat, one of the female Air France flight attendants went into panic after suffering slight wounds from ricochet rounds. Amir Ofer was ordered to carry her to the waiting vehicles at the precise moment that the firing outside resumed. As Amir Ofer later recounted: ‘I threw her over my shoulder and went outside. Suddenly a bullet flew by my head…I think I’m the only soldier in the history of the IDF who carried a half naked beauty in red underwear over his shoulder while running from bullets.’
The Peugeot pick-up arrived to transport the dead and seriously injured to the aircraft, where they were placed in litters in the forward cargo hold behind the cockpit. Slowly, the hostages crowded into the fuselage. The head of each family was required to account for all his kin and even Capt Michel Bacos had to report whether all members of his Air France crew were present. Even so the numbers did not tally. One hostage was definitely missing. The day before, 75-year-old Dora Bloch had choked on a piece of meat and had been taken to Mulago Hospital in Kampala. Her son, Ilan Hartuv, approached Dr Eran Dolev to see whether he should stay behind but was told that if he did so, he would undoubtedly put his life at risk and that the only real option was for him to leave with the other hostages. The pilot of the Karnaf, LtCol Amnon Halivni, insisted that the loadmaster present a written manifest of the hostages to ensure that no one was left behind. Again the number came to 93, the bodies of the two hostages killed. After repeated counts, the numbers still did not agree, but the hostages themselves insisted that everyone was accounted for except the unfortunate Dora Bloch. Indeed there were 105 hostages on board and the miscount was more than likely due to the overcrowding and chaotic situation on board. Amnon Halivni left his pilot’s seat for the first time since Ofira to check for himself but because of the mass of people, he was unable to get very far. Despite the roar of the engines, he noticed an uneasy silence inside the fuselage. He also identified Michel Bacos from his white shirt and pilot’s insignia and invited him up onto the flight deck. The aircraft had been on the ground for 26 minutes near the Old Terminal. From his cockpit, Amnon Halivni could still see bursts of gunfire as the fighting at the control tower continued. He was only too aware of the vulnerability of his aircraft and its packed fuselage of hostages:
We’re sitting there with the engines running and tracers are flying in all directions. And what’s a plane after all? It’s a mass of tubes and wires and cables and anything can happen to it. And this one thought went through my head – God help Israel. Let the plane go without being hit.
At last, Halivni was given permission to take off. The Karnaf rolled down the taxiway to the main runway where it immediately began to pick up speed past the three other C-130s waiting to refuel. The hostage aircraft lifted off at 1152hrs (1252hrs local time), just 51 minutes after the first Karnaf had landed. The aircraft climbed sharply over Lake Victoria and turned towards Kenya. After a week of fear and dread, the hostages were bound for freedom. Aluminium thermal blankets were distributed to ward off the cold in flight and were also used to shroud the dead. The C-130 had sufficient fuel for 90 minutes’ flight time. To the crews of the other aircraft, it was a moment of great relief. The main objective of the raid, to secure the release of the overwhelming majority of the hostages, had been achieved.
Throughout the evacuation, the four armed jeeps had acted as a blocking force against Ugandan reinforcements from Kampala, and been used to subdue the troops at the airport. The stubborn resistance from the control tower required the unit commander, Maj ShaulMofaz, to remain close by in his jeep and engage the position with direct fire. Time and again the fusillade from the tower was silenced, yet one particular Ugandan soldier would repeatedly return to the fray and continue the skirmish. One of the companion armed jeeps moved eastwards to cover the military runway and its associated hangars and barracks. FiveMiG-21 fighters were identified to the south of the runway and another three MiG-17s to the north. The vehicle commander, Omer Bar-Lev, sought permission to destroy them for, should their pilots return, they could well constitute a threat to the Hercules once they left Entebbe. The request was passed to Dan Shomron and to the airborne command post but no answer was forthcoming. Eventually, the jeep crew took it upon themselves to destroy the fighters with heavy machine-gun fire. Several burst into flames illuminating the night sky, a useful act in itself as one of the other jeeps to the north of the Old Terminal had shot up the generator supplying electricity to the building. The burning aircraft provided sufficient light to complete a final search of the area, including the hijacked Airbus, for any stragglers. All that remained in the darkened departure hall were discarded clothes and eating utensils, jumbled mattresses and blankets, as well as the bullet-ridden bodies of the terrorists. To the north, Ugandan troops were observed approaching the airport but the leading truck halted several hundred yards short, flashing its headlights. The convoy gingerly approached, but at a range of 200yds, the Israelis opened fire and the Ugandan column was stopped in its tracks.
As the last elements of the Sayeret Matkal assault teams withdrew in the Mercedes Benz and the two Land Rovers, the lone Ugandan machine-gunner on the control tower opened fire again. Fortunately, as had happened throughout the fire-fight, his aim was poor and his shots went wide. In the Mercedes Benz, Muki Betser expostulated: ‘God he’s stubborn!’ but out of a grudging respect for his sheer persistence, the Israelis did not return fire. Idi Amin subsequently decorated the soldier for bravery. As the rearguard, the jeeps remained on station patrolling the perimeter of the airport and guarding the road from Kampala, while the painfully slow process of refuelling the aircraft continued. The aircraft crews waited anxiously for their charges and for information on the progress of the raid now that the hostages were flying to safety. However, the prolonged fire-fight at the control tower was over. The Sayeret Matkal team and their vehicles were loaded aboard Hercules One in reverse embarkation order to their arrival, with the Mercedes Benz being first onto the aircraft. Then word came down the command chain that the Kenyan Government had given permission for all the aircraft to be refuelled at Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi. At 0012hrs (now Sunday 4 July), Hercules One with the Sayeret Matkal contingent took off, bound for Nairobi. The jeeps now began a gradual withdrawal to the New Terminal, each leapfrogging the other so that the area to the north was continually dominated by their firepower. As they withdrew, the crews threw delayed action demolition blocks out of their vehicles along the runway to deter followers. Then, as they closed with the aircraft, smoke grenades were detonated to cover the vulnerable process of loading. Hercules Three, piloted by Arieh Oz, was loaded next and stood waiting on the main runway with its engines pounding. Finally, the last pair of jeeps under the command of Shaul Mofaz arrived and quickly drove up the rear ramp of Hercules Two, followed by Dan Shomron’s command jeep. Its pilot, Nati Dvir, had instructed Arieh Oz to await departure in case either C-130 was damaged and it became necessary to load all personnel onto just one aircraft. Threading their way through the gleam of the portable landing lights, the two laden Karnafs took to the air with Hercules Two lifting off at 0040hrs, one-hour 39 minutes after the first C-130 had landed at Entebbe Airport.
By now, Hercules Four, carrying the hostages and wounded, was nearing Nairobi Airport. During the flight, both Dr Ephraim Sneh and Dr Eran Dolev tried everything in their power to revive Yoni Netanyahu but it was to no avail. The condition of each of the two seriously wounded hostages, Pasco Cohen and Yitzhak David, was stabilized and the lightly injured were treated for their wounds. The plane was heavy with emotion and studied silence. Dr Jossi Faktor recalls:
While there was jubilation, the passengers also appeared in a state of shock. This was expected. They had been captive for a week and then unexpectedly rescued in a shootout where they could so easily have lost their lives. Three of the hostages did. Compounding their trauma had been the constant fear of execution if their captors’ demands were not met. So while there was the obvious feeling of elation, it was also mixed with sorrow at the loss of life.
Yet there could have been a much greater loss of life. Dr Ephraim Sneh remembers being accosted by a well-proportioned lady with the words: ‘Major! Major! I’m afraid I’m sitting on some military thing.’ (He was in fact a colonel.) ‘She takes from under her arse a mini-hand grenade.’ Sneh later went on to recount with humour and no small measure of relief:
This was the sort of grenade [white phosphorous] notorious for its low safety, used only by Special Forces units for special operations. I think it fell from Yoni’s gear when he was rushed aboard. The wounded were loaded before the hostages – so I believe that 100 or so hostages trod on this grenade. You can imagine what could have happened if that grenade had exploded in the Hercules holding all those hostages.
One by one the Hercules landed at Nairobi Airport followed by the airborne command post Boeing 707. Joshua Shani shut down the engines of his Karnaf for the first time since leaving Ofira some ten hours before.
The seriously wounded hostages were transferred to a hospital in Nairobi for emergency treatment, but tragically Pasco Cohen never recovered after surgery. Sgt Surin Hershko was placed aboard the Boeing 707 hospital aircraft, with a number of women and children from the main body of hostages, in order to fly back to Israel as quickly as possible. It was at Nairobi that the soldiers on the other planes were told of Yoni Netanyahu’s death. Since he was responsible for weapons and ordnance, Amitzur Kafri recalls: ‘I went to see Yoni. It was very painful and I took his [combat] vest. It had two mini-grenades in it and a bullet had hit the top of his grenades and made a hole in his magazine. I saw it was lucky that it didn’t explode in the plane or when he got hurt.’ With the Israeli aircraft ringed by armed Kenyan soldiers and members of the GSU, Gen Kuti Adam ordered each plane to depart as soon as it was refuelled. The Hercules carrying most of the hostages and the dead was the first to take off at 0204hrs. The others followed in due course. All flew eastwards out to the Indian Ocean and then northwards, round the Horn of Africa, through the Gulf of Aden and the Strait of Bab el Mandeb, and up the Red Sea to Israel and freedom. By this route, none of the aircraft crossed the territory of any potentially hostile country. With the last planes in the air, the personnel in the Chief of Staff’s office allowed themselves a moment to celebrate with a few bottles of champagne, for they had not received a report of any deaths at this time. Old political foes, Yitzhak Rabin and Menachem Begin hugged each other and shared a drink with a L’Chaim (Hebrew toast meaning ‘to life’). A spokesman for the Defense Ministry made a telephone call to Professor Gross, representing the relatives of the hostages, informing him of the outcome of the raid. Throughout the night, telephone lines across Israel were busy as family after family were given the news. Among them was a thrilled Robert Maimoni, the father of Jean-Jacques. At 0400hrs he roused his sleeping family in their apartment in the coastal town of Netanya, to announce that the IDF had freed the hostages in Entebbe. His wife Rachel and their daughter Martine were ecstatic at the news.
The long 11-hour flight was uneventful until, with still over six hours’ flying time to Israel, a Karnaf pilot tuned into the Israel Army Network radio station hoping to enjoy some music. The troops were outraged to hear an announcement about the raid on Entebbe, fearing that the operation might be compromised even at this late stage. Currently in air space between Saudi Arabia and Egypt, it was possible that either country could send up fighter planes to intercept the lumbering transport aircraft. However, an alert reporter from the Agence France Presse had filed a wire story after learning of shots being fired at Entebbe Airport. The raid was now headline news in Paris and on the BBC in London. The troops in Hercules One were somewhat mollified when the pilot, hearing Idi Amin on shortwave radio, attached it to the loudspeaker so that all on board could hear the Ugandan President grandly announce that the airport had been reoccupied. Eventually, Israeli Air Force F-4 Phantom fighters arrived to escort the air armada home. As the aircraft flew low over the port of Eilat, the aircrews were astonished to see the streets and beaches packed with waving and cheering crowds. Hercules Four, with the hostages aboard, landed at Tel Nof Air Force Base at 0943hrs. The hostages were taken aside for a briefing and instructed not to reveal any operational details about the raid. One by one, the other aircraft landed. As the Sayeret Matkal soldiers trooped out of Hercules One, they were met by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Defense Minister Shimon Peres. The latter called to Muki Betser to ask how Yoni Netanyahu had been killed. His reply was succinct: ‘He went first. He fell first.’
Karnaf 4XFBQ 420 taxies to a halt after landing at Ben Gurion International Airport with the returning hostages.
Although many had slept on the long journey home, most members of The Unit were still exhausted and emotionally drained. After unloading the Mercedes Benz, Amitzur Kafri and Danny Dagan filled the car with other members of The Unit and returned to their base at Kfar Sirkin. There they were met by BrigGen Avraham Arnan, the founder of Sayeret Matkal. He conveyed his congratulations and condolences to the soldiers. Amos Goren recalls: ‘When we reached the base I wasn’t the slightest bit happy. Those of us at The Unit were completely removed from the whole festival that followed the operation and removed from all the publicity…What I and many others felt was hollowness.’ For Amir Ofer his feelings were the same: ‘It was the Fourth of July, the 200-year anniversary of independence in the United States. It was a very hot day and the sun was glaring in my eyes. After three nights of no sleep and extreme mental stress, after everything I had been through and all the miracles, I just wanted to be left alone. I was drained of every last drop of energy.’ The customary debriefing and completion of the after-action reports followed, as well as the mundane tasks of surrendering weapons and the accounting for ammunition expended. Within hours, LtCol Amiram Levine was appointed as the new commander of Sayeret Matkal. As evening drew in and the members of The Unit were finally going home, Amiram Levine passed Netanyahu’s combat vest with its damaged hand grenades to Amitzur Kafri. He gave instructions for it to be destroyed. With the setting sun casting long shadows through the olive trees, Kafri dug a small hole in the hard, packed earth and attached a small block of PE4 explosive to the vest. After retiring to a safe distance, he detonated the charge remotely. The ensuing explosion was the final act of Operation Thunderbolt.
Once the rear ramp was lowered, the hostages rushed to the embrace of their waiting relatives as they were greeted with raised arms by Foreign Minister Yigal Allon. To the left of the photograph is the French airline pilot, Michel Bacos. The ecstatic welcome was a fitting climax to Operation Thunderbolt.
After their brief stay at Tel Nof Air Base, the hostages were flown the short distance to Lod International Airport where they received an ecstatic and emotional welcome, with the Chief Rabbi of the IDF leading the celebrations with blasts on a shofar (ram’s horn). The hostages streamed down the rear ramp of the Hercules into the arms of their families and loved ones. Their ordeal was over. Yet for some it was never to end. Martine Maimoni recalls the moment to this day:
Relatives and friends rejoice as the C-130 Karnaf carrying the hostages comes in to land at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv. It was a moment of remarkable unity for the Israeli nation. Jonathan Rosenblum was a student in Israel at the time and recalls the tension and then the joy that filled the air on 4 July: ‘Complete strangers were embracing on the bus. For once Jewish unity seemed like a reality, not a fundraiser’s slogan. As I looked around the bus, one thought kept recurring: We are all Jews. The obvious differences between us – language, skin colour, personal and familial history – suddenly seemed unimportant.’
For the rest of my life, I will never forget that scene in the airport. Everyone was hugging and crying. Suddenly, I heard on the loudspeaker: ‘The Maimoni family is requested to come to room such-and-such.’ We entered the room, and there they told us that Jean-Jacques had been killed during the rescue mission. My father screamed horribly. My mother fainted. Meanwhile, all around us, people were laughing.
They were not alone in their loss. Aged just eight, Tzipi Cohen had witnessed her father bleeding to death before her eyes, a trauma that would remain with her for the rest of her life. To Benjamin and Iddo Netanyahu, the loss of their eldest brother would likewise haunt them all their days. His sacrifice at the moment of supreme success was a fitting end to a brilliant warrior philosopher. Two days later Yoni Netanyahu was buried with full military honours at Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem. Thousands attended his funeral and Defense Minister Peres delivered the eulogy. Until then, Yoni Netanyahu was unknown to the Israeli public because of the largely secret nature of his military assignments, but he became a national hero overnight. Schools, military camps and scholarships were named after him. In his honour and memory, Operation Thunderbolt was renamed Operation Yonatan.
4 Official IDF accounts of the raid state that the timing of the landing of the C-130 Hercules was to coincide with the departure of a British Airways flight so that the runway landing lights would still be illuminated. This has been reiterated in numerous books and accounts of the raid. However, British Airways records confirm that their only aircraft to land at Entebbe on 3 July 1976 arrived and left much earlier. Flight BA91 left London at 2000hrs on Friday 2 July and landed at Entebbe at 0555hrs on 3 July before flying on to Nairobi in Kenya arriving at 0745hrs. On its return trip, Flight BA90 departed Nairobi at 1015hrs but flew to London via Addis Ababa and not Entebbe.