From Israeli to Jew: Rami Sherman speaks on Entebbe 1976

On Monday 22 June Rami Sherman, Operations Officer in Operation Entebbe, visited us in Rechavia and gave a full and moving account of the events leading up to one of the most audacious military operations in history. 

The summary of Rami's talk that follows was composed by our member Pessy Krausz. Thank you, Pessy, for your assiduity in note-taking! You can also watch and listen to Rami's talk, which is in two parts, here and here.

From Israeli to Jew

Major Rami Sherman, who served as Operations Officer in Operation Entebbe, was invited by Beit Knesset Hanassi to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the dramatic rescue. Rami, as all call him, said the event gave him the deepest understanding of what truly happened that day and what it meant for Israel, then and now. Speaking to an overflowing audience, this child of Holocaust survivors lived originally on Kibbutz Lehavot Habashan, a historically secular community in the upper Galilee. He was denied a barmitzvah as its members wished to be universally “modern”. Only as an adult and after much heart-searching did Rami finally celebrate his Jewish coming of age.

The interweaving of the impact of the mission with Rami’s transformed identity from an Israeli to a Jew, and its relevance for present times, often felt like a morality tale. This prompted me to pick a few nuggets from his almost two-hour riveting presentation.

Rami recounted how at age 17, he and all the kibbutz members worked on Yom Kippur. As proud Israelis, rather than Jews, they produced families, fought and died for our country. He was therefore at a complete loss when invited for Shabbat by a family in later years and was asked to recite a blessing.

Army service led him to become second in command of the elite Sayeret Unit under its commander, Yoni Natanyahu in the legendary Entebbe mission.  Ringing in his ears to this day are the words of Yoni, whose words as commander are of greatest importance. Yoni made three points.

1. We shoot first.

2. Don’t stop running – even if someone shoots.

3. It is the responsibility of every Jew to help each other.

These words, Rami said, were not only crucial at the time, but changed his life 40 years later. Entebbe, Rami maintained, is the story of our history. When the Air France Flight 139 Airbus, initially en route from Tel Aviv to Paris, made a stopover in Athens, 50 alighted and 50 others got on. An old woman screamed: there are terrorists aboard.  But who, he asked, listens to an old woman! Indeed. On 7 October 2023 a unit of young female soldiers warned of a big attack. They were among the first Hamas killed on that date. Who listens to young women? Who follows the Biblical injunction to listen to the voice of Sarah? Even though research indicates that women have the greater intuition, apparently they are still not taken seriously.

Thus, on June 27, 1976, four armed hijackers, two from Germany and two members of the PLO, entered the plane, screaming none should move. Passengers were rooted to their seats for 18 hours. The butt of a gun hit the captain across the face, which was covered in blood. They forced him to re-route the aircraft to Entebbe, Uganda, holding the 248 passengers and 12 crew members hostage.

When the pilot heroically landed the plane in Entebbe, 148 Christian hostages were released, leaving 106 Jewish and Israeli hostages. This, said Rami, was selection—a process which some of the hostages, as Holocaust survivors, had experienced in their traumatic history. He emphasised the heroism of the non-Jewish captain, Michel Bacos. He refused the hijackers' offer to release him and his crew. Instead, he chose to stay and protect his Jewish and Israeli passengers. This, said Rami, is humanitarianism. Likening it to that of Janusz Korczak, who was repeatedly offered exemption from the death camp because he was internationally famous for his innovations in child education. Yet this Polish Jewish doctor gave his life to be with the children. He was transported together with them to death at Treblinka. Rami pointed out that then, just as on 7 October, the Western World was silent.

Until this point the resolution of the hijack had been considered the responsibility of the French Government since it was a French Airbus which had been hijacked. Now, however, Israelis and Jews had been selected. This was Israel’s wake-up call to take responsibility. But how? A decision-making group was formed. This included Lieutenant General Mordechai "Motta" Gur, who was Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during this operation. He was against military action, arguing that there was not enough information. Defence Minister, Shimon Peres, insisted Israel must act. The Diaspora must hear Israel’s voice. Israel must defend every Jewish life anywhere and never again allow helpless echoes of the Holocaust to be heard again. Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin considered Israel should negotiate with the terrorists. They had demanded a $5 million ransom for the release of the plane and the freeing of 53 imprisoned Palestinian and pro-Palestinian militants. Failure to comply would result in the killing two hostages daily. Rami confided that he personally felt fight was the answer. 

Brigadier General Dan Shomron, head of the forces, chief infantry and paratrooper officer, was appointed to plan the mission to Uganda. He issued the order: prepare to fly to Entebbe!

 Rami’s description of the mission could put a James Bond film to shame, if indeed the cost had not been so tragically high. To infiltrate Entebbe it was necessary to imitate the airport procedures there. The car used by Idi Amin in the cruel Ugandan’s president’s motorcade was a black Mercedes-Benz. Israeli soldiers found a white Mercedes (without wheels) which they then painted black. On Shabbat they found fourwheels in Tel Aviv. But the poor soldiers had no money. “We don’t do business on Shabbat” solved that problem! The Mercedes was used as a ruse to disguise the commandos as Idi Amin's motorcade. It was loaded onto one of four Hercules plane; on the others there were three Land Rover jeeps (used as escort vehicles), 33 soldiers and 12 paramedics. The crew switched into Ugandan uniforms; seats in the planes were removed; there was no air conditioning on board, and no toilets other than empty Coca-Cola bottles.

 Altogether the three planes were packed with vehicles and equipment, approximately 100 Israeli commandos, accompanied by air crews and medical and support personnel, totalling just over 200 personnel. But the fourth flew empty—for the hostages. Two Boeing 707 aircraft accompanied the Hercules fleet. One acted as an airborne communications and command post, while the other served as a hospital.

Hearing Rami describe the precautions taken to avoid detection flying to Uganda sounded like Mission Impossible. The Israeli task force flew low in a covert 4,000 km (2,500 mile) flight from Israel to Entebbe, Uganda. The route down the Red Sea and through East Africa had to avoid hostile radar. Over high mountains, a tropical storm hit, subsiding as the Hercules reached Lake Victoria. 

Emergency refuelling had to be secured, without which no continued flight would be possible. For the Entebbe mission, named Operation Thunderbolt, Ehud Barak served as the Head of the Planning Directorate and was a principal architect of the daring hostage rescue plan. He was secretly dispatched to Nairobi. There he met directly with senior Kenyan officials to ensure the Israeli planes would be able to refuel on both the inbound and outbound legs of the operation. Barak also coordinated contingency plans for evacuating the wounded.

Rami described the breathtaking speed with which the preparations for the Entebbe mission took place, taking roughly 48 to 72 hours (about 2 to 3 days). The IDF conducted rehearsals from when the terrorists issued their ultimatum around 29 June 1976.

The journey was complicated and left little time for food or sleep. It was further complicated by the fear factor. The crew had no knowledge of Africa and once on board, had to crouch on the floor or under the vehicles which some lucky ones sat in! Neither were they immune to the bumpy ride and some even vomited.

Reaching Uganda the rescue team was given permission to land. The operation, from the commandos' arrival in Uganda to their departure with the freed hostages took only 58 minutes. Unlike the darkness through which the planes had travelled, touching down on Entebbe’s runway they were faced with bright lights in the terminal. The Israeli commandos knew the exact layout of the Entebbe Terminal because the airport was originally built by an Israeli construction company, allowing planners to study the architectural blueprints.

Unloading cars and equipment, the crew ran towards the area where the hostages were housed. Yoni led, shooting and killing two of the guards. One managed to shoot him and he was badly wounded. Rami eventually got Yoni into his jeep and made for the hospital plane. But Yoni could not be saved. However, his words of operation rang in the ears of the commandos. They ran, killing guards on the way while being shot at from the control tower. In seven minutes 20 Ugandan soldiers and 11 terrorists were killed. Two hostages were mistakenly killed trying to escape. To their dismay, the hostages were afraid to leave their captivity, fearing that the commandos, who were dressed in Ugandan uniform, were killers. They were however reassured when they were spoken to in Yiddish and Hebrew.

Counting the hostages, one was missing. Dora Bloch's son, Ilan Hartuv, who was with her on the hijacked Air France flight, explained she was hospitalised in Kampala. Dora was later tragically shot in revenge for Israel’s successful mission. In their haste to escape, many of the hostages jumped into the Jeeps, making it impossible to drive them. This left them with no option but to walk 600 metres with 105 hostages to the Hercules plane reserved for them.

Rami softly told his spellbound audience that, as he managed to help the hostages evacuate, he heard a voice. Where it came, from he did not know. But it spoke clearly, saying: “Rami you saved the lives of Jews”. Even more softly, as we all sat in awe, Rami said “I cannot explain”.

The BBC, in an endangering scoop, announced that Israel released the hostages. So, when the hostages finally landed in an Israeli army base, the hostages were briefed as to what to say and what NOT say. Even so, details of the ‘secret’ mission spread like wildfire. The returnees finally landed in Lod (now Ben Gurion) airport.

Next day Rami went to his Kibbutz Maagan Michael, where he now lives with his family and where his sister anxiously awaited him. “Where have you been?”, she cried. “We heard that some have been shot. Are you alive?” Then he called his parents who were on a trip in Australia. “I’m alive!”, he exclaimed.  The following day he was back at work as usual, taking time off only to go to Har Hertzl for Yoni’s funeral.

Rami has now spoken some 800 times since Entebbe and realises how important it is that here, in Israel, we have a home. He said “I went into Entebbe as an Israeli and came out as a Jew”, he stated adding: “It took me 40 years to realize that meaning.”

His transformation might well be compared to those many people worldwide who, during and since the Swords of Iron war, have been blessed with an awakening of their Jewish identity. Seemingly, tragically, it takes a national trauma to create spiritual awakening.

Fittingly the operation was retroactively renamed named Operation Yonatan in memory of the mission's fallen commander, Lt. Col. Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu.

For 40 years Rami bottled up his Entebbe experience. Finally he felt he could contain it no longer. For 40 years we wandered in the Wilderness. Finally, as Rami did, we arrived in our spiritual and physical homeland. Am Yisrael Chai!