July 4, 1976: The Raid On Entebbe

July 4, 1976: Israeli commandos launch a raid on Entebbe International Airport, in Kampala, the capital of the African nation of Uganda. It becomes the stuff of legend.

On June 27, Air France Flight 139, an Airbus A300B4-203, took of from Ben-Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, intending to land at Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris, France. A crew of 12 was flying 246 passengers, most of them Jewish, and most of those citizens of Israel. The plane landed in Athens, Greece, to pick up 58 new passengers. But 4 of them were hijackers.

They took off from Paris at 12:30 PM, and were subsequently hijacked by 2 operatives of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - External Operations (PFLP-EO), and 2 operatives of the Revolutionary Cells, a terrorist group operating out of West Germany. The flight was diverted to Benghazi, in the Palestinian-friendly country of Libya. It was held on the ground for 7 hours, to refuel. At 3:15 PM on June 28, it arrived at Entebbe.

Idi Amin, dictator of Uganda, sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, allowed the plane to land. 

A PFLP-EO hijacker issued a declaration and formulated their demands. In addition to a ransom of US $5 million ($25.7 million in 2022 money) for the release of the airplane, they demanded the release of 53 Palestinian and pro-Palestinian militants, 40 of whom were prisoners in Israel. They threatened that if these demands were not met, they would begin to kill hostages on July 1.

On July 30, the hijackers released most of the non-Jewish hostages, leaving 83 Jews, mostly Israeli citizens, and 20 others who stayed aboard in solidarity with them. Negotiations got underway, not just between Israel and the hijackers, but between Israel and Amin. In contrast with his usual bombastic image, Amin convinced the hijackers to extend the deadline.

Representatives within the Israeli government initially debated over whether to concede or respond by force, as the hijackers had threatened to kill the hostages if the specified prisoners were not released. Acting on intelligence provided by Mossad, the decision was made by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to have the Israeli military undertake a rescue operation. The Israeli plans included preparation for an armed confrontation with Amin's Uganda Army. This extension of the hostage deadline proved crucial to providing Israeli forces enough time to get to Entebbe. Brigadier General Dan Shomron, who presented it, was named its overall commander.

Initiating the operation at nightfall on July 4, Israeli transport planes flew 100 commandos over 2,500 miles to Uganda for the rescue effort. Over the course of 90 minutes, 102 of the hostages were rescued successfully, with 3 having been killed. The Israeli military suffered 5 wounded and 1 killed. His name was Yonatan Netanyahu. He was 30 years old, held the rank of Sgan aluf, equivalent in the U.S. Army to that of Lieutenant Colonel, and commanded a reconnaissance unit named Sayeret Matkal. 

Yonatan was the older brother of Benjamin Netanyahu, who would later become Prime Minister. While "Bibi" was born in Tel Aviv, "Yoni" was born in New York City. They had spent their teenage years in the suburbs of Philadelphia, and went to Cheltenham High School. Yonatan graduated in the Class of 1964, along with baseball legend Reggie Jackson, who recalled having many Jewish friends at the time.

The Israeli commandos killed all of the hijackers and 45 Ugandan soldiers, and 11 of Uganda's Soviet-built MiG-17s and MiG-21s were destroyed. Over the course of the operation in Uganda, Israel received support from neighboring Kenya.

Amin subsequently issued orders for the Ugandan military to kill all Kenyans living in Uganda, leading to the deaths of 245 Kenyan-Ugandans, and the exodus of around 3,000 Kenyans. Since Kenya was still in the British Commonwealth, the United Kingdom broke diplomatic relations with Uganda the following year. Amin declared that he had defeated the British and added "CBE" to his title, for "Conqueror of the British Empire," instead of its usual "Commander of the Order of the British Empire." He also proclaimed himself to be the King of Scotland.

On December 13, 1976, just 5 months after the raid, ABC aired the film Victory at Entebbe, starring Anthony Hopkins, Burt Lancaster, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Dreyfuss, and Julius Harris as Amin. A month later, on January 9, 1977, NBC aired their version, Raid on Entebbe, with Horst Buchholz, Charles Bronson, James Woods, Yaphet Kotto as Amin, and Peter Finch as Rabin. It was Finch's last role: He died 5 days after the premiere, and soon won a posthumous Academy Award for Best Actor, for his role in Network.

But such are the natures of democracy and dictatorship that Rabin lost power through an election, replaced by Menachem Begin in 1977, before Amin lost power through a coup. And Amin outlived Rabin. On the other hand, Rabin did make a comeback, regaining the Premiership in 1992, dying in office through assassination in 1995, while Amin lived out his life in exile, dying in 2003.

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July 4, 1976 was a Sunday. It was the Bicentennial, the 200th Anniversary, of American independence, and there were celebrations all over the United States. I have a separate entry for that collection of events.

It was the off-season for the NFL, the NBA and the NHL. But a full slate of Major League Baseball games was played, including some of what had been a tradition, the holiday doubleheader: 

* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Despite giving up 2 home runs to Rico Carty, Dock Ellis was the winning pitcher. The Yankee runs scored on RBI singles by Willie Randolph and Jim Mason in the 2nd inning, and a sacrifice fly by Graig Nettles in the 6th. After giving up Carty's 2nd homer in the bottom of the 9th, Ellis was removed by manager Billy Martin, who brought Sparky Lyle in to slam the door.

* The New York Mets split a doubleheader with the Chicago Cubs at Shea Stadium. The Metropolitans won the opener, 9-4. The Cubbies won the nightcap, 4-2.

* Perhaps oddly, or perhaps wisely, depending on how you look at it, the Philadelphia Phillies were away from home on Bicentennial Day. They split a doubleheader with the Pittsburgh Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. The Phils won the 1st game 10-5, and the Bucs won the 2nd game 7-1.

* The defending, and soon to be back-to-back, World Champion Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 7-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-4 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* In the day's only extra-inning game, the Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 7-6. Before the game, White Sox owner Bill Veeck played the wounded fife player alongside two drummers, re-creating the famous Spirit of '76 painting by Archibald Willard, as they walked around the field at Comiskey Park.

Jorge Orta singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 12th. Right before the next season started, the Yankees, unhappy with the lack of production from shortstops Mason and Fred Stanley, traded for the player who scored the winning run in this game: Bucky Dent.

This was the opener of a doubleheader. In the 2nd game, the Rangers won, 3-2.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Hank Aaron, in his final major league season, did not play for the Brewers.

* A doubleheader was split at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. The California Angels won the opener, 5-3. The Minnesota Twins won the nightcap, 9-5.

* The only team then in the major leagues representing a city outside the United States, the Montreal Expos, was within the United States, beating the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-0 at Royals (now Kauffman) Stadium in Kansas City. Mike Norris pitched a 3-hit shutout.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.