First Israel Flight to Uganda Brings Back Memory of Entebbe

PERSPECTIVES | It's been over 40 years since the IDF operation to free hostages at the Ugandan Entebbe airport. Now, an Israeli commercial flight has landed for the first time in the two countries' history. El Al pilot, Itzik Garber, who piloted the first flight, discusses with host Jordana Miller. Story: Israeli national airline El Al called the day 'historic' — for the first time since the famous IDF operation in Entebbe, a commercial aircraft flying from Tel Aviv landed in Uganda. The trip was made aboard a special flight — a Boeing 777 El Al in the colors of its subsidiary airline Sun D'Or. Twelve Israeli crew members were aboard the aircraft, piloted by Captain Itzik Gerber. On June 27, 1976, an Air France plane flying the Tel Aviv-Paris route, via Athens, was hijacked by terrorists linked to the Palestinian cause. The flight, which had a majority of Israeli passengers, had to land in Entebbe with the authorization of the Ugandan president of the time, Idi Amin Dada. On the night of 3-4 July, a commando of Israeli elite troops had landed by surprise on the Ugandan tarmac and stormed the airport to free the hostages. 'On July 5, 1976, I was 10 years old. Like all Israelis, I woke up in the morning and heard about the bold operation in Entebbe, 'recalls Itzik Gerber. 'One year later, at the movies, I was fascinated by the movie Mivtsa Yonatan (in French, Operation Thunderbolt). Thirteen years later, I was flying the same aircraft as those who had participated in the operation, and 42 years later, I just released my breath to Entebbe, as captain of El Al,' said the Israeli pilot. Once on the airport tarmac, the El Al flight crew was able to film the interior of the Entebbe control tower, where bullet holes from to the 1976 operation are still visible. If all the passengers of the Air France 139 flight could have been rescued during this operation, Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu, older brother of the future Israeli Prime Minister, had been killed during the raid. For more, see our ⬇ Website Articles: https://www.i24news.tv/en Live: https://video.i24news.tv/page/live?clip=5a94117623eec6000c557fec (Subscription) Replay: https://video.i24news.tv/page/5a97bcc4a0e845000b902b26?utm_source=youtube.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=perspectives&utm_content=en2 (Subscription) Social Media Tracy's Twitter: https://twitter.com/talexander_i24 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/i24newsEN/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/i24NEWS_EN Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/i24news/

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