A renewed love affair

During the ceremony commemorating 40 years since Operation Yonatan in Entebbe on Monday, against the enchanting backdrop of the green Ugandan view, it was hard to remain indifferent. The ceremony was replete with all the elements that filled the Israeli guests with pride, optimism, joy, and excitement. Even the control tower, with its scars, a testament to that night 40 years ago, stood there as if to bear witness.

But the control tower wasn't the only witness, and that is what made the ceremony even more touching: former IDF Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz, MK Omer Bar-Lev, Doron Almog, Uri Sagi, Yishai Beer, and Gabi Ofir -- all of whom were there on that fateful night in 1976 -- were also in the audience. They all contributed to the success of the operation that has become a brand; an operation that, as the prime minister described it Monday, elevated Israel's status in the world, and became a symbol of the war on terror, with Israel among those leading the fight. In 1976, the world could not have imagined that our war was also their war.

Absent from the ceremony were the victims, represented by their relatives -- Dora Bloch's grandson Ofer; Jean-Jacques Mimouni's two charming sisters, Marlene and Martine; and how we would have wished that Ida Borochovitch and Pasco Cohen could also have been here with us, but they were killed on that cursed night. Martine Mimouni was right when she told me on the plane to Entebbe: "Israel's greatest day is our blackest." Today, 40 years later, things have come full circle. She feels a sense of pride. Her brother is written into one of the glorious chapters of Israel's history.

And there was another person who was enormously missed: the commander of the elite IDF Sayeret Matkal unit, Yoni (Yonatan) Netanyahu, the only member of the rescue mission who was killed. Yoni was the first to storm the building and did not make it back. Yoni, as survivor Akiva Laxer put it, "sacrificed his life for us."

Yoni's younger brother, accompanied by his wife Sara, was emotional, very emotional. He adored Yoni. "When Yoni died, our world was destroyed. Not a day goes by that I do not think what might have been," Netanyahu said, overcome with emotional. "Entebbe is always with me, in my thoughts, in my consciousness and deep in my heart." Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Motta Gur, Benny Peled, Dan Shomron, and of course Yonatan Netanyahu -- they all played a huge part in this wonderful episode.

Beyond the moving ceremony, another story unfolded on this journey: the renewed love affair between Israel and Africa. Netanyahu said, "Israel is coming back to Africa and Africa is coming back to Israel." Trips taken by heads of state to Africa are rare enough that Netanyahu's will be historic.

In Africa, everyone was excited by the visit. From the windows of the minibus that drove us, the journalists, to the presidential palace in Entebbe, a crowd could be seen waving Israeli flags. There were also signs with pictures of the president of Uganda and the president of Israel. Uganda is clearly proud of the renewed relationship.

There was another reason to feel a sense of joy and of pride: the Ugandan president's speech. There are those who will say it was entertaining, but it was a very Christian speech, representing the sentiments of Christians in Africa, as well as in America -- the conviction that the Jews have a right to the Land of Israel. With so many BDS activists around, we've forgotten that we have friends, and a lot of them.

Interestingly, it was an African leader -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni -- who said to anyone who would listen that "Israel is not the South Africa of then. It is not the same thing." He noted the deep connection between the Jews and the land on which they live. "It's all in the Bible," he explained, "and I have said the same to my Arab and Iranian friends."

Speaking of friends, seven African leaders from the east of the continent came to Entebbe in a show of friendship toward the Israeli prime minister. In Entebbe on Monday, we had every reason to be the proudest in the world.

These lines were written from Idi Amin's palace in Entebbe. He was one person who was certainly not missed.

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