Yonatan Netanyahu

Military officer and national hero of the State of Israel (1946–1976)

Source-basedFalling

Lived 1946–1976, aged 30United States

United States Historical Figures

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35 languages
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Era
1946–1976
Aged 30

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People connected to Yonatan Netanyahu

SiblingBenjamin NetanyahuPrime Minister of Israel

Summary

Updated 2026-05-29

Led the 1976 Entebbe raid that rescued 102 hostages from Uganda, becoming the operation's only Israeli casualty. Netanyahu's commando unit infiltrated the airport and neutralized the hijackers in one of history's most audacious hostage rescues.

Biography

About

Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu was an Israeli military officer who commanded Sayeret Matkal during the Entebbe raid. The raid was launched in response to the 1976 hijacking of an international civilian passenger flight from Israel to France by Palestinian and German militants, who took control of the aircraft during a stopover in Greece and diverted it to Libya and then to Uganda, where they received support from Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Though Israel's counter-terrorist operation was a success, with 102 of the 106 hostages being rescued, Netanyahu was killed in action – the only Israeli soldier k…

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