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Former Israeli commando to recount the 1976 Entebbe raid and rescue

| 08 Sep 2016 | 07:22
    Photograph by David Rubinger/Corbis An Israeli rescue pilot returns home to cheers after rescuing hostages in Uganda in July 1976.
    Photograph by David Rubinger/Corbis An Israeli rescue pilot returns home to cheers after rescuing hostages in Uganda in July 1976.
    Sassy Reuven in the Israel Defense Force 40 years ago.
    Sassy Reuven in the Israel Defense Force 40 years ago.
    Sassy Reuven, who served in the Israel Defense Force's Special Operations Unit that carried out the legendary undercover hostage rescue mission in Entebbe 40 years ago, will tell his first-hand account of Operation Thuderbolt on Tuesday, Sept. 20, at Chabad of Orange County, 1170 Route 17M, Suite 1, in Chester.
    Sassy Reuven, who served in the Israel Defense Force's Special Operations Unit that carried out the legendary undercover hostage rescue mission in Entebbe 40 years ago, will tell his first-hand account of Operation Thuderbolt on Tuesday, Sept. 20, at Chabad of Orange County, 1170 Route 17M, Suite 1, in Chester.

CHESTER — Chabad of Orange County will host Sassy Reuven, who served in the Israel Defense Force’s Special Operations Unit that carried out the legendary undercover hostage rescue mission in Entebbe. He was the second Israeli commando on the ground.
Reuven will tell his first-hand account of Operation Thuderbolt – The Miracle at Entebbe - on Tuesday, Sept. 20, beginning at 7:30 p.m. at Chabad of Orange County, 1170 Route 17M, Suite 1, in Chester.

Hijacked plane

While Americans celebrated their country's bicentennial on July 4, 1976, about 140 Israeli commandos were undertaking what is considered one of the most daring missions in the history of the Israel Defense Forces: Operation Thunderbolt, a counterterrorism hostage rescue at Entebbe Airport in Uganda.
Reuven was among the first to jump out of the first Hercules C-130 aircraft that landed in Entebbe seven minutes ahead of three additional transport planes.
What happened next, the heart of his adventure, is a story he reserves for live audiences.
A week earlier, an Air France plane on its way from Tel Aviv had been hijacked by two members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and two members of the German Revolutionary CZ Cell.
The plane was flown to Libya and then to Uganda, where the hijackers and additional terrorists held the Israeli and Jewish passengers hostage at the airport along with the 12-member flight crew.
The Israeli government, after unsuccessful negotiations, decided to send 140 commandos on a 2,500-mile journey to carry out a nighttime rescue operation that freed 106 hostages in 90 minutes. Four hostages were killed as well as all the terrorists. Four Israeli commandos were wounded and one, Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, was killed.
With the 40th anniversary of Operation Thunderbolt, Reuven is in much demand as a speaker. He has previously told his story to audiences in Australia, Canada, Panama and England as well as all over the United States.
His story is Israel's story: of courage, endurance, defiance and a willingness to sacrifice it all for the right to live in your homeland in freedom.

If you go

• What: Operation Thunderbolt – The Miracle at Entebbe, a first-hand account
• When: Tuesday, Sept. 20, at 7:30 p.m.
• Where: Chabad Center, 1170 Route 17M, Suite 1, Chester
• Cost: $18 for adults, Teens are free. Sponsors are $180; Hero Sponsors $360
• Reservations: Call Rabbi Peach and Chana Burston at 845-782-2770 or visit www.ChabadOrange.com.