Ugandan military honours Netanyahu’s brother with Entebbe memorial statue
The statue of Yonatan Netanyahu holding an assault rifle was unveiled on Saturday by Ugandan military chief Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who said he commissioned the monument to pay tribute to the soldier's courage.
Kainerugaba is also the eldest child of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and widely seen as a possible successor since Museveni's reelection in January.
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Among those attending the ceremony were members of an Israeli delegation, including Barak Orland, a businessman based in Uganda.
The statue has been installed outside the airport terminal in the town of Entebbe where Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu was shot dead as he led Israeli commandos in a mission to rescue 106 passengers who had been taken hostage on an Air France flight. He was the only Israeli commando killed in the mission.
“Today, this memorial stands not only in remembrance of a distinguished soldier, but also as a tribute to the enduring values he embodied: courage in the face of danger, unwavering commitment to protecting innocent lives, and steadfast devotion to duty,” Kainerugaba said at the ceremony.
Kainerugaba also 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". Uganda's military chief, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba unveiled this monument honoring the late Yoni Netanyahu, brother of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the old terminal of Entebbe International Airport in Entebbe, Uganda, on 1 August, 2026
Entebbe hijacking
The hijackers – two Palestinians belonging to a faction of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and two Germans from the Revolutionary Cells – separated dozens of Jewish and Israeli passengers from the others on board.
They threatened to kill the hostages unless Israel released dozens of Palestinian and other prisoners.
The Paris-bound Airbus A300 had taken off from Tel Aviv on 27 June 1976 and stopped in Athens, where the four hijackers boarded. They seized the aircraft and forced it to fly first to Libya to refuel and then to Uganda, where Idi Amin welcomed them.
After a week of negotiations, Israeli commandos stormed the airport overnight on 3 to 4 July. They rescued 102 hostages, while three were killed during the raid. A fourth hostage, Dora Bloch, who had been taken to hospital before the operation, was later murdered on Amin's orders.
Dozens of Ugandan soldiers were also killed during the operation, which lasted less than an hour.
Subtle diplomatic switch
At the time, Uganda's President, dictator Idi Amin Dada, had severed ties with Israel and was an open supporter of the Palestinian independence cause.
Israel's success humiliated and enraged Amin, while the Organisation of African Unity – now the African Union – condemned the raid as a violation of Uganda's sovereignty. President of Uganda Idi Amin Dada while addressing the media on 28 July, 1975, in Kampala during the Organisation of African Unity (OUA) summit.
The rescue remains a seminal event in Israeli history and is widely regarded in Israel as one of the country's greatest military successes. Benjamin Netanyahu has said his brother's death in the operation “changed the course” of his life.
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Netanyahu welcomed the unveiling of the monument. In a message released after the ceremony, he described his brother Yoni as an enduring symbol of courage, devotion and love for Israel.
“Fifty years have passed, but his spirit continues to inspire in Israel and around the world,” he said.
Amin was overthrown in 1979. Uganda gradually rebuilt its foreign relations after his fall, although contacts with Israel remained limited for several years.
Museveni, who came to power in 1986, adopted a more pragmatic foreign policy, and Uganda and Israel formally restored diplomatic relations in 1994 after more than two decades without official ties.
Benjamin Netanyahu visited Uganda in July 2016 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Operation Entebbe.
Relations have since grown closer, with Israel seeking to strengthen its diplomatic and security partnerships across East Africa.
(with AP)