On July 4, Israel commemorates 50 years since Lt.-Col. Yonatan “Yoni” Netanyahu lost his life leading one of the boldest hostage rescue operations in recent times.

For many, Yoni’s name remains inseparable from Operation Thunderbolt (also known as Operation Entebbe and later named after Netanyahu), the 1976 mission to rescue Israeli and Jewish hostages held in Uganda after the hijacking of an Air France flight by Palestinian and German terrorists.

The operation succeeded in freeing more than 100 hostages and became a defining symbol of Israeli courage and reach. Yoni Netanyahu was the only Israeli soldier killed in the raid, and it is commonly held that he was killed after firing on Ugandan soldiers before return fire ended his life.

At a memorial service held at Mount Herzl two weeks ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood at his brother’s grave and reflected on the half-century that has passed since Entebbe.

“Fifty years have passed since my eldest brother, Yoni, fell in the heroic operation to free the hostages in Entebbe,” Netanyahu said. “Fifty years have passed, Yoni, and there is not a single day that I do not think of you. I remember you with infinite longing, with deep pain, with immense pride.”

Yoni Netanyahu's life and death

Yonatan Netanyahu was born in New York on March 13, 1946, the eldest son of Benzion and Tzila Netanyahu. He spent parts of his youth in Israel and in the United States before returning to Israel to enlist in the IDF.

Yoni joined the Paratroopers Brigade, fought in the Six-Day War, and was wounded in the Golan Heights while helping rescue a fellow soldier.

After brief periods of academic study at Harvard University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he returned to military service.

In the early 1970s, he joined Sayeret Matkal, Israel’s elite special forces unit, and later became its commander. During the Yom Kippur War, he led troops on the Golan Heights and was later awarded the Medal of Distinguished Service for rescuing wounded officer Yossi Ben-Hanan from behind enemy lines.

At the graveside, Netanyahu described the traits he said had defined his brother from childhood: “humanity, moral clarity, courage, sound judgment, exceptional composure, a readiness to lead from the front, and a burning love for the people, the land, and the state.”

He recalled Yoni’s understanding that Israel’s survival required determination and sacrifice.

Netanyahu says 'Israel will not be a fleeting episode,' quoting his brother's letters

Quoting from one of his brother’s letters after the Yom Kippur War, Netanyahu said Yoni had written, “I prefer to live here in a state of ongoing war than to be part of the wandering Jewish people.”

Yoni, he added, had also written, “Since I have no intention of describing the Jewish state in the 20th century to my grandchildren as a fleeting and short episode among thousands of years of wanderings, I intend to take root here with great force.”

For Netanyahu, Entebbe was a moment that shaped Israel’s place in the world.

“Operation Yonatan, in which Yoni fell, will forever bear his name,” he said. “This operation raised Israel’s stature among the nations, and it proved to the free world that it is both possible and necessary to fight terrorism.”

Standing by his brother’s grave, Netanyahu linked Yoni’s legacy to Israel’s present challenges and pledged that the country would continue to defend itself.

“The State of Israel will not be a fleeting episode in the history of our people,” he said. “We are steadfast in protecting our vital interests.”

He ended with a personal promise to the brother whose memory has remained central to his life.

“Yoni, my dear and beloved brother, my longing for you will not cease until my dying day,” Netanyahu said. “I will continue, and we all will continue, to proudly carry the torch of your mission in order to ensure the eternity of Israel.”