In honor of Israel's 60th anniversary this Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces Monday released tapes from the communications network of the force that carried out the Entebbe hostage rescue 32 years ago.
The rescue operation, which took place on July 3, 1976, was launched after Palestinian terrorists hijacked an Air France plane to Uganda's Entebbe Airport and threatened to kill all the Israeli and Jewish passengers. It succeeded in rescuing most of the passengers unharmed, but Yoni Netanyahu, commander of the elite Sayeret Matkal unit that carried out the operation, was killed in the battle.
The tapes document conversations between the operation's overall commanders and the officers in the field, as well as the battles with the terrorists. The speakers include then chief of staff Mordechai Gur; commander of the operation (and later chief of staff) Dan Shomron; and Shomron's deputy (today a deputy minister), Matan Vilnai.
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Former defense minister Shaul Mofaz and deputy defense minister Matan Vilnai, both of whom participated in the raid, are also featured in the recordings, as is the voice of the then chief of staff Motta Gur.
The successful raid became the subject of a number of Hollywood movies, including "Raid on Entebbe," in which Shomron was played by Charles Bronson.
Current Defense Minister Ehud Barak participated in the operation, as did firebrand National Union MK Effie Eitam.
The tapes show that during the tense moments until the rescue force succeeded in taking control of the airport, "Butterfly" ¬ the code name for Sayeret Matkal's communications officer, Amnon Biran ¬ was asked for constant updates on the situation by "200," the forward command plane in which officers Yekutiel Adam and Shai Tamari oversaw the operation from the air.
A few minutes after the IDF gained control of the terminal where the hostages were being held, while those wounded in the assault were being loaded onto the first Hercules transport plane for the flight to Israel, "Butterfly" reported: "No one remains in the [terminal's] hall. The hijacked plane is right next to the terminal, with a [mobile] staircase beside it, so perhaps it was preparing to take off, or something like that ... Black smoke is rising from their [the Ugandan] army's hangar area. In the area of the old terminal, all is quiet. We're near the plane that is evacuating the wounded, and there is lighting around the new terminal. Over."
Adam: "Is Dan [Shomron] near you? Over."
Biran: "He's currently supervising the loading of the vehicle onto the plane; he's at a little distance from me."
Adam: "Okay. Tell me, has the plane with the wounded left yet?"
Biran: "Not yet. They're currently transferring the last vehicle to it; then it will take off."
Adam: "Okay."
Soon afterward, Adam requested another update from Biran, who reported: "At this stage, we've finished loading the plane that is evacuating the wounded. The first plane is still standing in place, but it will soon start taxiing for takeoff."
Adam: "Good."
Biran: "Look, it's closing its doors."
Adam: "Good."
Later, asked for information about the passengers, Biran reported: "According to what I've been told, they counted 87 passengers; they're now counting again. It's not clear whether this includes the [Air France] crew or not."
Adam: "Tell me again, how many did you count?"
Biran: "87. Over."
Adam: "As soon as the plane takes off, tell me."
Biran: "Okay."
Still later, Shomron got on the communications network to make his own report: "So far, at first count, we have 87 of the hostages. We've searched everywhere and haven't found any others. Maybe later it will turn out that we have more of them. There are two dead hostages, several dead terrorists, several dead Ugandan soldiers, and we have one casualty of our own."
Adam: "This is '200.' Has the first plane left?"
Shomron: "Affirmative. The plane with the wounded and the hostages has already taken off."
Adam: "This is 200. Was the French crew with them?"
Shomron: "It's hard for me to tell. They were all together, and I couldn't make out the French crew. I assume that if it was there, it would have boarded along with them [the passengers]."
Adam then asked whether they had searched the Air France plane.
Shomron: "We didn't check inside the plane; we're afraid it's booby-trapped, so we didn't enter the plane. But it, the plane, looks dark and we didn't hear anything from it."
Adam: "They said the door was open."
Shomron: "The door was open, but nothing could be seen there."
Adam. "Okay. Is the airport quiet?"
Shomron: "Everything is currently quiet. A few of them [the gunmen] remain, here and there a bullet. But overall, quiet."
In its initial assault, the rescue force had attacked all the Ugandan planes at the airport, in order to put them out of commission and forestall pursuit. Later, however, Adam ordered Shomron to strike them again if he discerned any movement in their vicinity. Shomron asked him to repeat the order, saying: "There's noise here, I can't hear a thing."
Later, he reported: "We've begun to load the fourth plane." Then, just before turning off his radio, he added: "See you later."
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