6th of Tammuz: Entebbe 40 years later

Yes, it is now 40 years since the famous Entebbe raid to liberate the hostages from the terrorists of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. This week’s essay will be timed to the yahrtzeit date, the 6th day of Tammuz, this year, the 12th of July 2016.

In 1976, the civil date was July 4th, the Bi-Centennial, the 200th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence. It was a day celebrated by all Americans with a gusto that I had never witnessed before, or since. However, that joy was to turn to absolute terror with the Entebbe hijacking.

Occupying center stage to that event was the brave yet sad role played by Jonathan “Yoni” Netanyahu, commander of the rescue force, who was to be the only Israeli military fatality that day. This essay is dedicated to his memory, and will center on an introductory essay by the great American writer, Herman Wouk, to the book, “The Letters of Jonathan Netanyahu” (Gefen Publishing House, 2001, introduction, 1980). Also, his younger brother, Dr. Iddo Netanyahu, authored the authoritative work, “Yoni’s Last Battle: The Rescue at Entebbe, 1976” (Gefen Publishing, 2013) that should be required reading at this time. This narrative is based on interviews with almost every member of the operation. It is an accurate and dispassionate portrayal of an older brother, a lasting tribute that deserves an honored place upon your bookshelf.

I will leave it to the reader to familiarize him or herself to the facts and details of this tragedy, and thus I will devote the bulk of this essay to Wouk’s heartfelt words. Given current ongoing events, Entebbe must resonate on our minds and memory, and serve as both an inspiration and a source of grief for what, by now, many thousands experience every year, worldwide.

Please read on and learn from Herman Wouk’s pen and mind: