Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History

accessible at www.djnfoundation.org

54 | JULY 8 • 2021 

45 Years Since Daring Raid
A

round 11:00 on the night of July 
3, 1976, six airplanes carrying 
100 commandos and medical 
equipment approached Entebbe, Uganda. 
Less than 90 minutes later, the aircraft 
were back in the air. Israeli special forces 
had just carried out one of the most 
spectacular rescue missions in history, 
saving 102 hostages held at the Entebbe 
Airport by Palestinian 
terrorists and their two 
radical German accomplices. 
 
 
 
It began on June 27, 
1976, when the terrorists 
hijacked Air France Flight 
139 with 246 passengers, 
largely Jewish or Israeli, 
and 12 crew members. The 
flight was diverted to the Entebbe airport. 
Once in Uganda, the hijackers demanded 
the release of Palestinian militants 
imprisoned in Israel and elsewhere. The 
infamous Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin, 
abetted the hijackers. Negotiations led to 
the release of some non-Jewish hostages 
over the next few days, but 94 Jewish 
hostages remained under the threat of 
death, along with the Air France crew 
that heroically would not abandon their 
passengers. 
The Israeli military began planning 
Operation Jonathan shortly after the 
hijacking, but the risks were extremely 
high; the objective was 4,000 miles away. 
After several days of failed negotiations, 
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin made the 
tough decision to act. 
Operation Jonathan was a huge success. 
Sadly, three hostages were killed; a 
fourth, Dora Bloch, who had been moved 
to a hospital was subsequently slain. 
The leader of the raid, Lt. Col. Yonatan 
Netanyahu, brother of the future longtime 
prime minister of Israel, Benjamin 
Netanyahu, was also killed. But, 102 
people were saved.
As a military operation, the Entebbe 
Raid was one of the most successful in 

history. It was an extension of power from 
a very small nation that demonstrated the 
courage, skill and planning abilities of 
Israelis. It sent a strong statement about 
not giving in to terrorism. Ian Fleming 
or Tom Clancy could not have written a 
more thrilling saga. 
The William Davidson Digital Archive 
of Jewish Detroit History holds 433 pages 
that mention Entebbe. Soon after news 
of Operation Jonathon reached Detroit, 
Entebbe became a topic of discussion 
in the Jewish community. Rabbi Harold 
Loss lectured on the Entebbe Raid at 
Temple Israel (Aug. 13, 1976, JN). At
Congregation Beth Abraham, Yael Rom 
spoke about the “Entebbe Escape.” (Oct. 
29, 1976). And this says nothing about 
conversations between friends and 
neighbors, or the extensive reporting in 
media from around the world.
The Entebbe Raid also inspired several 
movies and books. Within a month, Uri 
Dan, military affairs correspondent for 
the Israeli newspaper Maariv published 
the first book: Ninety Minutes at Entebbe. 
Many others soon followed. There have 
been five movies about the raid, most 
recently 2018’s Seven Days at Entebbe. 
And one can find hundreds of entries on 
the internet. 
Perhaps the best story in the Archive 
is “Entebbe Memories” by Don Cohen 
in the June 30, 2016, JN. It is about Arie 
Smargon, from Huntington Woods, the 
neighbor next door, who happened to be 
a veteran of special forces in both the U.S. 
Army and IDF. Smargon was a commando 
on the Entebbe Raid, where he lost his 
best friend, Yonatan Netanyahu. 
Simply stated, the Entebbe Raid is 
legendary and deservedly so. Forty-five 
years later, it is a still a thrilling story of 
derring-do. 

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation 
archives, available for free at www.djnfoundation.
org.

45 Years Since Daring Raid

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

