Veteran Israel Defense Forces elite Red Beret paratrooper Sassy Reuven will share his role in the famed hostage-rescue mission code-named “Operation Thunderbolt” when Chabad Tucson and the Weintraub Israel Center commemorate the 40th anniversary of Operation Entebbe on Sunday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m.
Reuven and 100 commandos flew over 2,500 miles to Uganda to rescue more than 100 Israeli and Jewish passengers held hostage by Arab terrorists.
Reuven will share his personal experience of the daring July 1976 operation, which took a week of planning and lasted 90 minutes.
Five Israeli commandos were wounded and one, the unit commander, Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, was killed in the operation. All the hijackers, three hostages and 45 Ugandan soldiers were killed.
Reuven will recount the operation step-by-step from the moment he was called to duty, including the preparation for the mission, landing in Uganda and completing the mission behind enemy lines.
The event will be held at Congregation Young Israel-Chabad. Admission is $18. For more information, call 881-7956.
