We were struck by the Jerusalem Post’s look back at the Entebbe rescue 30 years ago. Especially with the fate of Cpl. Gilad Shalit hanging in the balance today. The can-do attitude and luck is no less important now as it was in 1976:
Without waiting for cabinet approval, Netanyahu, Maj. Muki Betzer, Maj-Gen. Dan Shomron, Intelligence officer Col. Ehud Barak and other top IDF officials continued to work on their military rescue plan. The Idi Amin entourage ground plan sounded convincing to them, except for a few minor details – like the fact that the army did not own a Mercedes. Kafri, in charge of special military operations and arms, was put to the task.
Through the previous night and the early morning, he set about hunting down a Mercedes in Tel Aviv from a government connection and getting it into shape.
“It was a lousy, stupid car that didn’t work,” he says. And the car was white.
“We took it back to the unit and this guy [the company mechanic] Razal rebuilt it from scratch, painted it black and made it a really good car. A guy named Roded from Kibbutz Ma’agan Michael made the Ugandan flag and a license plate.
“If we had believed the mission was really going to happen, we could have gone to a proper Mercedes dealer and bought some new tires. Instead, we went to a friend’s tire shop in Tel Aviv at 1 a.m. to replace the four burned out tires,” explains Kafri. “He didn’t know why and I think we might still owe him money.”
As they examined the car, they found a hamsa, an anti-evil-eye charm, tied underneath the car on the right side which, despite their laughter, they decided to leave in place.
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