Back to Entebbe: Former Israeli hostage reveals diary

"Every time I fly abroad, I take a close look at every passenger and at each member of the air crew to make sure they are not terrorists," says 81-year-old Sarah Davidson, one of the Israelis who was held hostage in Entebbe, Uganda, in 1976, after Air France Flight 139 was hijacked en route to Paris.

"This is just part of who I have been for the past 40 years," she said.

Davidson, her husband, Uzi, and their two sons, Ron, then 16, and Benny, then 13, were on their way to the United States on what was supposed to be Benny's bar mitzvah trip. She kept a diary detailing their captivity, which ended on July 4, 1976, after Israeli commandos carried out a daring raid and rescued the hostages in Operation Thunderbolt (later renamed Operation Jonathan, in memory of Sayeret Matkal commander Yoni Netanyahu -- brother of now-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- who was killed in the raid).

Ahead of the 40th anniversary of the events, the Davidson family recently gave an interview to Israel Hayom in which they talked about their ordeal. Benny said he had been "very afraid of [Ugandan dictator] Idi Amin, who arrived and spoke with us."

Uzi Davidson, then an Israeli Air Force navigator, recalled how he made a split-second decision to eat his military entry pass to make sure his hijackers wouldn't find out about his sensitive position.

"We all chewed the pass together, right after the hijacking began," he said.

He also remembers the moment the elite Israeli Sayeret Matkal commandos stormed into the old terminal where they were being held.

"I suddenly heard a shot, and then a whole burst of shots," he said. Benny added, "Mom then jumped on top of me. Only then did I realize just how serious the situation was."

Sarah Davidson said, "Words cannot describe how I felt. Our heroes made it all the way to Entebbe, and did everything they could just so they could rescue us from captivity."

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