THE MORE THINGS CHANGE THE MORE THEY REMAIN THE SAME

The entire world has changed dramatically since the 1970’s – a decade which is, for Israel, one of the most traumatic.

The Yom Kippur War in 1973 left the country devastated by the loss of 2,600 soldiers. In spite of the astonishing victory against all odds, the country lost faith in its leadership and, with it, a sense of security. [That is perhaps one of the reasons that, in 1977, a right-winged government defeated the impregnable Labour Party for the first time].

Although terrorism has been an ongoing factor since before Israel existed, the 70’s was a nightmare. Palestinian terrorists were sowing terror against Israelis, both on Israeli soil and around the world. The most glaring example was the terrorist attack on the Israeli team at the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972, in which eleven members of the team were murdered.

In the same year, Ben Gurion Airport became a slaughterhouse, when three Japanese men - who had been recruited by the “Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine”, and trained in Beirut - stepped off an Air France flight from Rome. Within seconds of entering the airport’s waiting area, the three opened fire, murdering 26 people and wounding scores more.

Israel had hardly recovered from the 1973 Yom Kippur War when, less than a year later, terrorists took 105 Israeli schoolchildren hostage in the northern town of Ma’alot. Israeli forces fought to save the children in the school, but the terrorists murdered 22 of them, along with four adults. 

And in 1975, terrorists took control of the Savoy hotel in Tel Aviv, ending in the murder of eight civilians and three soldiers, after a failed rescue attempt. And so it went on…….

Forty seven years later, as Israel continues to cope with the threat of terror, one factor remains unchanged: the world still condemns Israel’s attempts to defend itself. The latest blatant misinterpretation of the true facts by the media was the recent raid in Jenin. Jenin had become a safe haven for fighters funded by Hamas, the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. The number of deadly attacks against Israeli citizens had been steadily increasing and, if not dealt with, would continue to escalate. [The many attempts foiled by the IDF are not mentioned - including the group that planned a large-scale terror attack in Tel Aviv].

Prominent media outlets consistently whitewashed the motivations and actions of  the perpetrators of these murderous attacks. They even used language that served to glorify and justify Palestinian terrorism - framing the Jenin raid as the “most aggressive assault on the West Bank in over two decades”, and going as far as accusing Israel of murdering children. The confirmed terrorists were described as “Palestinian resistance fighters”. To another journalist, the Palestinians are primarily motivated by their “frustrations with the Israeli occupation and an enfeebled PA,” - ignoring their prime motivation, which is blind hatred of Israelis and Jews. In fact, only 12 Palestinian militants were killed in Jenin. The two “children” among them were fully armed minors.

Coming back to the 70’s: As often happens in Israel, after a prolonged period of “lows” came an unexpected “high”. On July 4^th 1976, while Americans were celebrating their Bicentennial Independence Day, the most daring hostage rescue ever, was being enacted -  4,000 kms. from Israel, in the city of Entebbe, Uganda. A French jet airliner had been hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Red Army Faction. The President of Uganda, Idi Amin, and the Ugandan Government supported the terrorists.

Picture 94 Israeli passengers and 12 French crew members, including the pilot (who refused to leave the passengers when the 148 non-Jews were released), sitting in a small room, surrounded by terrorists with their fingers on the trigger. They could fire in a fraction of a second.

The Israeli commandos had to fly seven hours, land safely, drive to the heavily armed terminal area where the hostages were being held, get inside, and eliminate all the terrorists before any of them could fire. The fact that nobody in their right mind expected the Israelis to take such risks, was precisely the reason that they took them. The element of surprise was the only edge that Israel held.

The success of the operation was the highpoint in global attitudes towards Israel. Even the UN - which had declared Zionism to be "racism" just a year earlier, in a resolution sponsored by 25 countries - was reluctant to criticize Israel.

Among Jews worldwide, Entebbe went beyond restoring confidence. - it took on a mythical status, restoring a sense of shared destiny and fate among all Jews around the world.

The story of Entebbe reaffirmed the nation’s best values: self-sacrifice, loyalty, the value of human life and unity. Within Israel, the rescue brought left and right together, and the memory of the rescue is still cherished by all sides of the political spectrum - something that is altogether rare in Israeli society today.

[The mission was later renamed “Operation Jonathan” in honour of Yonatan Netanyu].