Uganda unveils statue of Israel PM’s brother who died in Entebbe rescue mission
News
Uganda has unveiled a statue of Yonatan Netanyahu, the older brother of Israel’s prime minister, who was killed during the Entebbe hostage rescue mission 50 years ago.
Uganda’s army chief Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba said the monument honoured his courage and selfless service.
Netanyahu was the only Israeli soldier killed in the raid, which rescued more than 100 hostages, after two Palestinians and two Germans hijacked an Air France flight that had taken off from Tel Aviv and diverted it to Uganda’s international airport.
Details
Kainerugaba described the mission as “one of the most significant episodes in modern history” and spoke of the now close ties between the two countries as a “remarkable journey”.
The statue of Netanyahu, striding forward with a machine gun in his hands, stands outside the old airport terminal where the rescue happened.
During the operation, three hostages – Jean-Jacques Mimouni, Pasco Cohen and Ida Borochovitch – also died, and Dora Bloch was later murdered in hospital in the capital, Kampala, while being treated there.
Analysis
“May their memories continue to inspire future generations in the pursuit of peace, justice and human dignity,” the army chief said.
The hijackers and three accomplices who joined them in Uganda were also killed, as well as at least 45 Ugandan soldiers, in fighting with the Israelis.
Acknowledging the deaths of the soldiers, Kainerugaba said they had “fought valiantly… in what they believed was a justified cause. Of course, today, we know that the government of Idi Amin, which they served, was a brutal dictatorship which did not represent the Ugandan people.”
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