Entebbe rescue mission marks 50th anniversary

The 50th anniversary of the Israeli Defense Force's rescue operation at Entebbe, Uganda, highlights the historical impact of the mission that freed more than 100 hostages from Palestinian and German terrorists in 1976.

While the operation is widely associated with Yonatan Netanyahu, who led the commandos and died during the mission, new documentation titled ‘To Kill a Nazi’ focuses on Michel Cojot. Cojot, a French Jewish Holocaust survivor, was among the hostages held with his twelve-year-old son. The film explores his personal history and his role during the rescue.

Historically, the Entebbe raid is noted for influencing global counterterrorism strategies. Following the event, the United States began a more formal engagement in developing national counterterrorism capabilities, a shift preceded by early warnings from then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld regarding the far-reaching implications of widespread terrorism.