throwing rational onto the scrapheap

Defy the instincts. Don’t listen to them. Put masking tape around the mouth of that inner voice. Rationally, logically, it was said it could not be done, something in direct contradiction to the “laws of nature.” At a rational level, this was true, even axiomatic. According to the calculations, to the accountants and bean counters of life, there was no “natural way” of seeing this through.

More than the physical saving of the people, the takeaway has to be about the subject of abandonment: not to abandon anyone and that abandonment works on many levels some quite profound, including not abandoning oneself. In the case of Entebbe it involved, had to involve a deeper source, one which totally rejected practical convention and by acknowledging the necessity of ignoring all the calculations of time and space, and maybe a deeper look at who was responsible for those “laws of nature” and maybe there does exist a spiritual instinct that transcends the quantifiable considerations that seem to so effectively shape our lives. It seemed that idea of not abandoning was much stronger and overcame impossible odds.

Christopher Hitchens and Slavoj Zizek have said that israel could never attain “normalcy”, could never attain the status of a “normal” country; perhaps the inverse is true, a suffering from being borderline too normal….

( see link at end) …When Germans brandishing pistols segregated the Israelis and Jews from the other prisoners, it became strikingly apparent that Israel was the target. This “selection” struck a chord to Israeli ears, with its clear Holocaust parallels. The other passengers were told to prepare for their departure and release….

…Following the release of the non-Israeli hostages, Israel was on its own. After initially deciding against a military option, the government voted on pursuing a diplomatic track and negotiating with the terrorists. Whilst some sources claim that the negotiations were simply to buy time, Rabin in his memoirs categorically stated that at that point in time negotiations were genuine. The IDF, however, was ordered to continue preparing a military option. Allon correctly predicted that upon hearing this the terrorists would extend the deadline, giving them time to try to gain additional information and to explore all alternatives. The Israeli government notified the French that they had decided to negotiate and the terrorists subsequently extended their ultimatum to Sunday, July 4.

The IDF had blueprints of the Entebbe airport as it was built by an Israeli construction firm. Working with testimonies of released hostages, they learned precisely where the hostages were being held, how many terrorists were on the ground, if they seemed concerned by the prospect of a military operation and how many Ugandans were involved.

They also learned that everything had been planned in advance and that Amin was kept informed. This led to the conclusion that if a military alternative was to be pursued,they would need to arrive at the airport in full force. A mock exercise was carried out on a model of the old terminal of the Entebbe airport, proving the plan feasible.

At 13:20 on July 3, four IAF aircraft took off from the Ofir air force base – Operation Thunderbolt was underway. The lead Hercules carried the rescue force, led by Yonatan Netanyahu. It also held two jeeps and the now-notorious black Mercedes, used as an imitation of Amin’s personal car. …

…Never again has the Israeli government be

n the position where strategic advantages have outweighed the dangers of a failed operation; indeed on several occasions Israeli leaders have concluded that the only viable option was to negotiate with terrorists, and pay the heavy price of prisoner swaps. …Read More:http://www.jpost.com/Features/InThespotlight/Article.aspx?id=275015