''Decision makers took decisions that they would have otherwise not taken''. Photo: IDF Spokesperson

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The Heritage Branch of the Intelligence Corps that was created about two years ago, together with the Head of the Education Department of the Corps, initiated a project code named "Coffee Heritage", where the present generation of the Corps met with the people who worked behind the scenes in one of the most famous and successful operation in the history of the IDF and the State of Israel.

Hundreds of soldiers and officers from classified units of the Intelligence Corps arrived last week to the Command College to listen to first hand recounts of the preparations and brilliant achievements of Operation Entebbe (also known as the Yonatan Operation, the Entebbe Raid or the Operation Thunderbolt). The operation planning began after an Air France plane was hijacked and taken to the Entebbe Airport in Uganda by terrorist groups, the Revolutionary Cells and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, from the 28th of June to the 3rd of July 1976.

The panel included head of Heritage Department, Lt. Col. Gideon Mitsnik, Intelligence officer of the operation, Col. (res.) Amnon Biran, the director of the branch dealing with terrorism, Brig. Gen. (res.) Gadi Zohar, the head of the Africa Research Division,Lt. Col. (res.) Eli Palm, the head of Branch Operations in the Air Force, Lt. Col. Ido Amber, and Sara Davidson, who was on her way for a family vacation with her husband, former Air Force pilot, and two children who were all kidnapped in Entebbe.

 Sara Davidson recounted that, "Several seconds after we got in the plane, I saw a stewardess and I instantly told my husband, we are getting kidnapped. My husband instantly told me to stop with the nonsense but after several seconds two Arabic looking kidnappers ran and one German woman announced in English with a heavy German accent that the plane had been kidnapped. I turned to my two children and stared into their blue eyes. It is impossible to describe the feeling at that moment."

The panelists described the intelligence that they had before the operation.  Among other things collected were photographs of Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin, the terminal where the hostages were held, maps of public libraries and bookstores, aerial photos in the possession of the Air Force, and testimonies of military personnel who were in Uganda several years ago.

During the same time that Israel was conducting negotiations with the hijackers and after the plans for a rescue operation by the Navy's elite Squadron 13 were canceled, it was decided that the elite unit Sayeret Matkal (General Staff Reconnaissance Unit) with the support of Golani and Paratrooper Brigade forces would take three Hercules planes to Uganda and conduct the rescue mission.

"Intelligence was not enough"

"We initiated the rescue mission with more question marks than exclamation marks." Ido Amber explained, "If we would have had another day, I think that the operation would have been cancelled, but the time urged these considerations aside."  According to some Intelligence officials, more information was concealed than revealed before the operation. The success was due to the successful integration of operational capabilities, excellent instincts in the field by the combat soldiers and a little bit of luck.

"The intelligence gathered was not enough to leave to such an operation, but under the circumstances it had to be enough," said Gadi Zohar. "Decision makers took decisions that they would have otherwise not taken because the gap of information was very big."

Amnon Biran talked about the tremendous operation achievement: "It was unprecedented that during peacetime an operation could be conducted in such a short time. The plane was hijacked on Sunday and the operation was carried out on Saturday. The planning only began on Thursday and left for Uganda on Saturday.  The hijackers did not believe that the IDF had the ability to conduct an operation at such a long distance, and that helped us a lot, it brought the element of surprise."

Sara Davidson recounted her feelings inside the terminal, when IDF soldiers landed in Entebbe. "No one imagined that the IDF would arrive. Suddenly we heard shots fired, a lot of smoke, fire, dust and explosions. I dragged my son to the bathroom and laid low. We are a secular family, but my son who was 13 at the time began to pray "Shema Israel" on his own.  Someone shouted: 'There are Israeli soldiers here!' And suddenly I saw a man with a white hat and a uniform who said 'Guys, we came here to take you home.' If the soldier would have had wings coming out of his body it would have been more logical than what really happened," Sara said. Until the last moments she said she didn't believe that they were saved and going back home but that was what really happened.

Her son later served in a high ranking position in one of the elite intelligence units where her two grandsons still serve today.

Connect the younger generations to their heritage

The soldiers and older generations who were among the guests, many of them colonels and brigadier generals in reserve who served in the IDF at the time of the operation, showed great interest and expressed hope that such meetings will continue. "It was very interesting to hear how intelligence was collected in unique ways, such operations carried out under those conditions was very complex," said one of the soldiers.

The Head of the Heritage Department, Lt. Col. Gideon Mitsnik, explained the importance of the "Heritage Coffee" project.  "We have a desire to connect the younger generation's most important heritage to actions over the years. Veterans have experience, knowledge and insight that they can give to the Corps. It is very important to bring together the members of this generation with the people who were involved in intelligence operations in the past and contributed to great successes. "

A previous meeting that was held under the "Coffee Heritage" series was the bombing of the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981. Forum participants included then Col. (res.) Ze'ev Raz, who led the team of pilots and commanded the operation, Gen. (res.) Ephraim Lapid, and Lt. Col. (res.) Shamai Golan.