Operation Thunder Sabbath

On 14 May 1948, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the State of Israel, founded on the Zionist Movement, which supports the creation of a Jewish homeland. Directly after this declaration of independence, numerous Arab nations made it clear that they would go to extreme lengths to prevent the establishment of the Jewish state. A coalition of four Arab countries - Egypt, Syria, Trans-Jordan and Iraq - and Palestinian forces immediately attacked Israel, in what became known as the Palestinian War. Numerous wars followed and continue to, up until the present day. Apart from constant conflict with the Arab nations, Israel had also been the victim of unrelenting terrorist attacks, both within its borders and against her citizens throughout the world. After the defeat of the

The need not only to save the hostages, but also to end this cycle of terrorism, was clear, and hence a mission such as Operation Thunderbolt would both liberate the hostages as well as act as deterrence to future terrorist attacks. Hence this mission may also be viewed as a reaction to all terrorist attacks on Israel in the past and not only a reaction to this event alone. Therefore when looking at the context of this event, a powerful strike back mission, such as Operation Thunderbolt, can be viewed as a necessary step in order to act as a deterrence to any future acts of terrorism. This mission was meticulously planned and incredibly well thought-out and therefore, can by no means be seen to be a rash or impulsive action. The element of surprise, the rapid speed of the mission as well as the lethal force implemented were all essential aspects to ensure the success of the mission. Therefore it can be seen that Israel’s actions with regards to the raid on Entebbe, otherwise known as Operation Thunderbolt, were wholly