Fifty years ago this week, the world witnessed one of the most extraordinary rescue missions in modern history.

On June 27, 1976, Air France Flight 139 departed Tel Aviv for Paris via Athens. It never arrived as planned. The aircraft was hijacked by Palestinian and German terrorists after takeoff from Athens and diverted first to Libya and then to Entebbe, Uganda, where dictator Idi Amin welcomed the hijackers and their hostages.

What happened next remains one of the most chilling and revealing episodes of the post-Holocaust era.

The terrorists separated the Jewish and Israeli passengers from the others.

Three decades after Auschwitz, Jews were once more singled out from a crowd. Non-Jewish passengers were gradually released. Jews remained captive.

And what did the world do?

The French government negotiated. International leaders expressed concern. Statements were issued. Diplomats talked. The Jewish hostages waited.

For Israel, there was no luxury of waiting.

The Jewish state understood something that many others did not: every day that passed increased the likelihood of murder. Every hour brought the possibility of another massacre.

The danger was not hypothetical. The terrorists had already separated Jewish and Israeli passengers from the rest, reviving memories that many believed had been buried with the Holocaust. Israel’s leaders knew that if they failed to act, the consequences could be........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)