Fallen Entebbe raid commander Yoni Netanyahu honoured

Yonathan Netanyahu was honoured by The International Human Rights Observatory and B’nai B’rith Portugal at a ceremony on Monday in Porto. 

The oldest son of historian Benzion Netanyahu and brother of Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoni was the legendary commander of Israel’s elite Sayeret Matkal unit.

He was killed whilst leading the daring rescue at Entebbe Airport in Uganda at the beginning of July 1976, after more than 100 hostages were taken to the country by Palestinian terrorists.

Operation Thunderbolt, also known as Operation Yonatan, is now widely hailed as one of the most astonishing military operations in history.

Monday’s ceremony was attended by community leaders, diplomats and guests from Israel, the US, Belgium, Spain and Portugal, including Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman and founder of the European Jewish Association, which represents communities from Portugal to Ukraine.

He said: “Yoni Netanyahu was a symbol and an example of a leader who sacrificed himself for the sake of the people of Israel. The decision to honour his memory expresses the ideal that is required today from every Jew in Europe: to be courageous and willing to make all necessary sacrifices and efforts in order to ensure the continued existence and prosperity of the Jewish community in Europe.”

Israel’s ambassador to Portugal, Oren Rozenblat, said: “Operation Thunderbolt was not just a military operation. It was a message to Jews everywhere, and to the world. The Jewish people are not alone. The State of Israel will always be there to protect Jews, in Jerusalem, in Tel Aviv, or 4,000 kilometers away in Entebbe. It was a message of defiance against terror, of strength rooted in moral obligation, and of Jewish resilience.”

Luís Andrade, the president of the International Human Rights Observatory added: “Today we recognise Yonathan Netanyahu not only as a military hero, but as a moral landmark in the struggle for a more just and equitable world. For the first time in two thousand years, terrorists who sought to exploit and terrorise Jewish families learned that such crimes would not go unpunished.”

A dedication certificate was presented to David Mileikowsky, a cousin of Yoni’s and Benjamin Netanyahu, acknowledging his role in changing the world’s response to terrorism and defending the dignity of Jewish families everywhere.

Mileikowsky said: “Some of us are first and foremost poets and suddenly under unexpected circumstances, they have to become warriors, but those fighters who are poets never really die.”

Speaking from Washington DC, Dan Mariaschin, chief executive of B’nai B’rith International, said: “Yoni’s bravery renewed our pride in ourselves, as Jews, and as important, reinforced our love and admiration for the State of Israel, the IDF, and for the Zionist idea.”