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The great success of 1976 Entebbe

Entebbe 1976: 

The Israelis launched a bold assault on the airport in the capital of Uganda to free 106 hostages held by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and supported by the dictator Idi Amin. The IDF had to be airlifted to 100 commands some 4000 kilometers away. For refueling, they had the support of Kenya. Although 4 passengers and Hebrew commander (Yonatan Netanyahu the prime minister's brother) died, it is considered a success because it avoided a greater evil in the end of the ultimatum from the kidnappers.

Baruch «Burka» Bar-Lev a retired officer of the Israel Defense Forces, known Idi Amin for many years and which was considered to have a close personal relationship at the request of the government tried to communicate by telephone many times with Amin looking the release of the hostages without success. The Israeli government also made an approach to the US government to send a message to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, asking Amin directed to request the release of the hostages.

On July 1th the date on which the deadline given by the abductors was fulfilled, the Israeli government offered to negotiate with them on the condition of extending the deadline until July 4. Amin asked them to extend the deadline until July 4th.

This meant that he could make a diplomatic trip to Port Louis, Mauritius, in order to officially hand over the chairmanship of the Organization for African Unity to Seewoosagur Ramgoolam. This extension of the deadline for the hostages would prove to be crucial in providing enough time for Israeli forces to reach Entebbe.

On July 3th the Israeli cabinet approved the rescue mission under the command of Major General Yekutiel Adam with Matan Vilnai as second in command. Brigadier General Dan Shomron's was chosen to command the operation on the ground.