Fifty Years After Entebbe, Jerusalem Breaks Ground on a Center to Preserve the Legacy of Operation Yonatan

by | Jul 6, 2026 | News

Half a century after Israel’s daring rescue of hostages at Entebbe, the country marked the milestone this week by laying the cornerstone for a new heritage center in northern Jerusalem, dedicated to preserving the memory of one of the most celebrated operations in its history.

The ceremony took place at the historic terminal of the former Atarot Airport, once Jerusalem’s air gateway. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended alongside his wife, Sara, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion, and other public figures. “In Atarot, we are restoring former glory,” Netanyahu told those gathered, describing the site as a bridge between the city’s past and its future.

The Atarot Heritage Center will tell three interwoven stories. The first is Operation Yonatan, the July 4, 1976 mission in which Israeli commandos flew more than 2,000 miles to Uganda and freed 102 hostages held after the hijacking of an Air France flight. The raid, originally code named Operation Thunderbolt, was later renamed in memory of its commander, Lt. Col. Yonatan “Yoni” Netanyahu, the prime minister’s older brother and the only Israeli soldier killed in the mission. Three hostages also lost their lives.

The center will also preserve the history of the Atarot moshav, one of the first modern Jewish farming communities north of Jerusalem, established in 1919 and abandoned during the War of Independence in 1948. Finally, it will honor the airport itself, which dated to the British Mandate era, served travelers for decades, and closed at the start of the Second Intifada in 2000.

The project is one of several initiatives marking the anniversary. In recent weeks, Israel’s State Archives released thousands of pages of previously classified documents from the Entebbe crisis, including cabinet minutes and diplomatic correspondence, offering the public a fuller picture of the decisions behind the rescue.

For many, the timing carries added weight. As Israel continues to grapple with the memory and consequences of October 7, the Entebbe legacy of refusing to abandon its citizens resonates powerfully. Supporters hope the new center will keep that lesson alive for generations, transforming a quiet corner of Jerusalem into a place of learning and remembrance.

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