Lessons from the Entebbe Rescue Mission

 This July 4^th marks the 48^th anniversary of the successful IDF raid on Entebbe and rescue of 102 passengers who were being held hostage in Uganda. There are many lessons that can be learned from Operation Entebbe. For us on this Shabbat Parshat Shelach, two of those lessons stand out.

First, the Entebbe mission teaches us that enemies of Israel may be able to hurt and impede us, but nothing and no one can prevent the realization of Jewish destiny. This was the mistake of the meraglim. After touring the Land of Israel, 10 of the 12 spies came back with negative reports. If we look closely at their report, it is all factually correct. The inhabitants of the land were giants. The cities were fortified. It was going to be difficult to conquer the land. But even though they may have been right about these details, the spies were still wrong in their unwillingness to factor into their equation the Hand of God and immutable power of Jewish destiny. As David Ben Gurion once quipped, “In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles.” The same can be said about the ongoing continuity of the Jewish People.

Soon after the Entebbe rescue mission the Lubavitcher Rebbe wrote: “Here my thoughts turn to the recent miraculous rescue of the hostages from Uganda. One cannot fail to note the extraordinary aspects at both ends of the hijacking. On the one hand, the ease with which the four terrorists hijacked the airbus in Athens, and on the other, the extraordinary success of the rescue operation. In other words, both the initial crisis and the eventual delivery clearly point to the Hand of G-d.”

Second, the Entebbe rescue mission demonstrated Israeli risk-taking and initiative. As one military analyst noted the fact that the Entebbe mission was a success was not surprising as the Ugandans were outmatched in all ways according to all opinions. What was impressive was the “guts” demonstrated by Israeli leadership in ordering the command to do the right thing and get the job done. This is the lesson in Parshat Shelach that we can learn from Yehoshua and Kalev. These two meraglim understood and appreciated the role of the Divine intervention and Jewish destiny. However more important than this fundamental difference in religious outlook was their willingness to show the courage and resolve to speak up and say what was unpopular and what most people did not want to hear.

Ask anyone the names of the meraglim, and most people will first name Yehoshua and Calev. These two men were very unpopular in the moment ads they spoke out against conventional wisdom and forced the nation to confront ideas that they would have preferred to avoid. Yet they are the two men that history has proven to be correct and worthy of remembering. The other ten spies may be recorded in the Torah, but they have been forgotten by Jewish tradition. This came about due to Calev’s and Yehoshua’s willingness to be bold, to take risks, and to do what needed to be done.

Let us utilize this July 4th to recommit ourselves to learning the lessons of the Entebbe rescue mission, especially those that intersect with the story of the meraglim: Let us appreciate the need and the benefits of taking risks. Let us be willing to engage in bold initiatives and to say constructive things even when it may be unpopular. Let us always be willing to do what needs to be done. At the same time, we must never underestimate the Yad Hashem, the role of God in the unfolding Jewish story. If we are unsure of the effectiveness of our efforts, if we feel as if the Jewish cause is getting more complicated and the Jewish dream is moving further away, then let us be reassured in the knowledge that nothing can stop Jewish destiny.