Exactly 35 years after he was freed in the raid on Entebbe, Shai Gross met President Shimon Peres, who, as defense minister at the time, urged military action to free the Israeli hostages at the Ugandan airport. On June 27, 1976, Palestinian and German terrorists hijacked an Air France plane with 248 passengers on board and diverted it to Entebbe, near Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The non-Jewish passengers were released, and more than 100 people were held hostage. A week later, on July 4, the Israel Defense Forces carried out a hostage-rescue mission, in which five Israeli commandos were wounded and one was killed. Three hostages and 45 Ugandan soldiers, as well as all the hijackers, were also killed. Gross was just 6 years old when he was held hostage at Entebbe, and recently made a formal request to meet Peres and thank him personally for his involvement in Operation Entebbe. On Monday, he thanked Peres for the gift of life. Gross, who brought his children to the meeting, asked Peres to recount the decision-making process that took place at the time and the critical moments before the operation got underway. A leader must decide as quickly and as correctly as possible, Peres said. At that time, there were those who called the staff of young commanders I assembled the 'fantasy staff.' Today it's clear that those commanders planned an extraordinary operation, one that caught the world's imagination and elevated Israel's stature. Peres spent an hour with Gross and his two children and embraced them with great emotion. All the credit [for the Entebbe rescue] goes to our young, courageous soldiers, Peres said. Gross, meanwhile, shared with Peres his feelings about having been a hostage. My experience as a hostage is a scar that I have carried with me my entire life, Gross said. He said that being slapped across the face by one of the German terrorists was an event he would never forget. Gross told Peres that he decided to name his youngest son Yoni, after Yoni Netanyahu, the rescue teams commander and the older brother of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was killed in the raid. I met Yoni the evening of the operation, Gross said. I spoke with him and was impressed by his outstanding character and leadership. Yoni gave his life to give life to the hostages at Entebbe, and when we received word of his death, I could hardly stop crying.
Former Entebbe hostage thanks Peres for 'gift of life'
Shai Gross was only 6 years old when he was taken hostage at Entebbe airport • He recently made a formal request to meet Shimon Peres and thank him personally for his involvement in Operation Entebbe.
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