{"id":524597,"date":"2026-07-04T08:04:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T08:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/524597\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T08:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T08:04:08","slug":"america-at-250-entebbe-at-50-defining-moments-for-the-us-israel-alliance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/524597\/","title":{"rendered":"America at 250, Entebbe at 50: Defining moments for the US-Israel alliance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fifty years ago, on July 4, 1976 \u2013 as America rejoiced with fireworks and fanfare to celebrate its bicentennial \u2013 news broke of one of the most audacious military operations in history.<\/p>\n

Israeli commandos flew 4,000 kilometers to Entebbe, Uganda, and stormed a terminal where Palestinian and German terrorists held 103 Israeli and Jewish hostages, hijacked aboard an Air France flight a week earlier. The mission was as successful as it was daring, with the terrorists killed and all the hostages freed and returned home.<\/p>\n

This July 4, America turns 250. Israel marks the 50th anniversary of that rescue \u2013 known as Operation Jonathan<\/a>, named for Lt.-Col. Yoni Netanyahu, the mission\u2019s heroic commander and only fallen soldier.<\/p>\n

The coincidence of dates is not merely a historical curiosity. It is a symbol that captures something essential about the bond between the two nations. Operation Jonathan embodied the very ideals America was celebrating that day: courage in the face of impossible odds, an unyielding commitment to freedom, and the ironclad principle that every innocent life is precious.<\/p>\n

\"AttendingAttending a special IAC America 250 celebration in Israel were: IAC CEO Elan S. Carr; Businesswoman and philanthropist Dr. Miriam Adelson; US Ambassador Mike Huckabee; Event host and philanthropist Shari Arison; Entrepreneur and philanthropist Yakir Gabay, a member of the Gaza Board of Peace. (credit: Brendo Photography)<\/p>\n

It also captured Israel\u2019s deepest moral tenet \u2013 as both a refuge for the Jewish people and a nation willing to bear the cost to bring its people home. Two democracies, an ocean apart, beating with the same moral heart.<\/p>\n

That kinship has only deepened in the half-century since. The US-Israel security relationship is among the most consequential alliances in the world today. American military assistance<\/a> has helped Israel defend itself against enemies that target the innocent by design. In turn, Israeli military technology, intelligence sharing, and counter-terrorism doctrine have saved thousands of American lives.<\/p>\n

Contrary to how some people portray US-Israel relations, it is not one-sided. It is also not one whereby Israel is a pawn of America, and vice versa. In fact, it is a strategic partnership built on shared interests and values. Israel is America\u2019s number one investment, and America is Israel\u2019s number one partner. That partnership has been tested vigorously in recent years.<\/p>\n

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been engaged in a multi-front war against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and \u2013 most consequently \u2013 Iran, the grand architect of this terror network.<\/p>\n

When Iran launched direct missile and drone attacks on Israel proper, the United States helped intercept missiles and drones and coordinated the diplomatic response. When Israel struck back, it did so with American support and precision, exposing the vulnerabilities of Iran\u2019s defenses and contributing to the pressure that is fracturing the regime from within.<\/p>\n

Defending and celebrating freedom<\/p>\n

The war against Iran and its proxy network is not Israel\u2019s war alone. Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps<\/a> has American blood on its hands \u2013 from the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing that killed 241 US servicemen to the IED networks that killed American service members in Afghanistan and Iraq. It has called for \u201cdeath to America\u201d since 1979, and it still does.<\/p>\n

Every Iranian proxy degraded on the battlefield is a blow against a terror machine that has long targeted both nations. Israel has been fighting on the front lines of a broader civilizational conflict with tenacity and moral seriousness, even as it faces relentless criticism from institutions that hold the Jewish state to unique standards. Double and at times triple standards.<\/p>\n

The second half of the 20th century \u2013 the most prosperous and peaceful era in human history \u2013 was made possible by American power and leadership. It was America that defeated fascism and contained Soviet totalitarianism for decades. It was America that built the liberal international order that lifted billions out of poverty.<\/p>\n

That order is now under renewed assault from authoritarian powers \u2013 Iran, China, Russia \u2013 and from Islamist movements that seek to replace it with a world governed by violence and fear. Today, we are once again confronted with the oldest of choices: civilization or barbarism.<\/p>\n

Freedom, as both Americans and Israelis know well, is never free. It must be defended by those willing to pay the price. On July 4, 1976, Yoni Netanyahu paid that price in Entebbe. American and Israeli service members have paid it on countless battlefields. Today, IDF soldiers pay it daily fighting on the front lines.<\/p>\n

The forces of barbarism have not retreated. Civilization still needs defending, and America will once again need to have civilization\u2019s back.<\/p>\n

As the United States celebrates 250 years of independence<\/a> and Israel commemorates 50 years since Entebbe, the message of that extraordinary coincidence rings clearer than ever: two nations, forged in the pursuit of liberty, are strongest when they stand together.<\/p>\n

The writer is head of the US office at Acumen Risk Ltd., a risk-management firm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fifty years ago, on July 4, 1976 \u2013 as America rejoiced with fireworks and fanfare to celebrate its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511919,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[239863,3760,234844,85,87,53065,46,43,59113],"class_list":["post-524597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-4-july","tag-america","tag-entebbe-rescue-operation","tag-il","tag-iran","tag-irgc","tag-israel","tag-news","tag-us-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}