THE crowd-pulling power of Shaul Mofaz delivered in spades for JNF NSW at its annual dinner last week, held in support of the growing community of Ofakim in Israel’s strategically vital Negev region.
The former IDF chief, defence minister and deputy prime minister, kept his audience of more than 750 at Randwick Racecourse in the palm of his hand, sharing gripping details of serving as deputy commander of Operation Entebbe on July 4, 1976.
After 90 minutes of calculated mayhem in the dead of night on a Ugandan runway, the daring mission resulted in the rescue of 92 Israelis, two Jewish Americans and 12 crew members taken hostage on an Air France flight hijacked by -pro-Palestinian terrorists.
But there was a price; four hostages were killed and the leader of the Israeli commandos, Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu died during a fierce gun battle.
Read the article by Shaun Desiatnik in the Australian Jewish News.