25 YEARS LATER, ENTEBBE RAID CONTINUES TO INSPIRE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM

Israeli and Jewish hostages of Palestinian hijacking rescued in daring operation

July 4, 2001

For Immediate Release

July 4^th, 2001… 25 years ago today, commandos of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) acted swiftly to rescue103 hostages from the clutches of Palestinian terrorists, their German Baader Meinhof allies, and their Ugandan protectors at Entebbe airport. Following the hijacking of an Air France flight en route from Paris to Tel Aviv, and the subsequent "selection" solely of Israeli and Jewish passengers, the Government of Israel launched a lightning rescue raid involving a daring 3,500 km flight to Uganda, much of it through hostile air space.

Tragically, the ground commander of the rescue, Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu - brother of former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - was killed, the lone IDF casualty in the assault.

Rochelle Wilner, President of B’nai Brith Canada, reflected: “Twenty-five years ago, a world for the most part paralyzed by shock and inaction, held its breadth as Israel demonstrated its commitment to stand by its citizens and to defend Jews targeted simply because of their religion. Israel’s soldiers have left a legacy of true heroism in fighting terror, which is an inspiration for all Israelis in their current difficult situation, for all Jews, and for anyone who believes that terror must be countered whenever and wherever it rears its ugly head.”

Frank Dimant, Executive Vice President, added: “The lessons of Entebbe are equally relevant today. Israel is still forced to rely on its own resources when facing the perpetrators of terror in order to ensure the safety and security of its citizens. In the aftermath of terrorist outrage after terrorist outrage, the world has sent condolences and made commitments to fight terrorism, and yet in the end Israel is left alone to protect itself and then criticized for doing so.”

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B’nai Brith has been active since 1875 as the country’s senior advocacy and volunteer agency.

For more information, please contact:
Rochelle Wilner or Frank Dimant at (416) 633-6224