Leader of Entebbe Airport Rescue Dead at 70
February 2008 has been a month that has seen a lot of ups and downs in Israel and the broader pro-Israel community. We've marked the 5th anniversary of the death of Israel's first astronaut; we've seen - possibly - the seeds sown for a very hush-hush 2nd "Disengagement" beginning with the small town of Kochav HaShachar; a suicide bomber killed one woman and wounded 38 others in Dimona, while a second suicide bomber was killed before being able to detonate his belt; Sderot, which has been under rocket fire for months, had its power knocked out in a Kassam attack; a Hizbullah official was killed in a car bomb, which resulted in Hezballah threatening Israel; and of course, on the political scene, US Representative, Israel advocate and Holocaust survivor, Tom Lantos, passed away at the age of 80. Now, even after we've struggled to wrap our minds around all of that, we must take a moment to acknowledge and reflect upon the passing of a true hero. Leutenant General Dan Shomron, the commanding officer who planned and led the legendary rescue operation in 1976, in which Israeli troops freed 103 hostages at Entebbe Airport in Uganda, died Tuesday in Israel at age 70. According to the Associated Press, sources at Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv confirmed his death as the result of a stroke suffered three weeks ago. The Jerusalem Post reported that he died at Beit Lowenstein Rehabilitation Center in Raanana. ...
