Uganda: Ugandan Military Honours Netanyahu's Brother With Entebbe Memorial Statue

What the report says

Uganda’s military has unveiled a memorial statue in Entebbe honoring Yonatan Netanyahu, the older brother of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was killed during the 1976 hostage-rescue operation at the airport. The monument, depicting him with an assault rifle, was commissioned by Ugandan military chief Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba and installed outside the airport terminal where the raid took place. According to the report, Israeli representatives attended the ceremony, including a businessman based in Uganda.

The memorial marks a significant symbolic gesture in a story still remembered in both countries. Yonatan Netanyahu led Israeli commandos during Operation Entebbe, when hijacked Air France passengers were held in Uganda after the plane was diverted there in 1976. Israeli forces rescued most of the hostages, but Yonatan Netanyahu was killed in the operation, along with other casualties on both sides. The rescue remains a major event in Israeli national memory and a source of tension in African politics at the time.

Kainerugaba described the statue as a tribute to courage and duty, while Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the unveiling and said his brother’s legacy still inspires people. The report also places the event in the broader context of warmer Uganda-Israel ties in recent years, after relations were restored in 1994 following the break under Idi Amin. The memorial underscores how the Entebbe raid continues to shape diplomatic memory nearly five decades later.