July Fourth is an annual occasion for national celebrations of Independence Day for the United States of America, and this year marks the 23lst anniversary of our nation’s Declaration of Independence, which was signed by our Founding Fathers at sweltering Independence Hall in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. As a minority community, the Jews of the United States of America always have reason to celebrate the democratic values that have endured since the nation’s inception, unlike Jews elsewhere who have been victimized by anti-Semitism, discrimination, pogroms, the Crusades and the Holocaust. No other Great Power nation has offered such opportunities, freedoms and legal protections to Jews as the United States of America. To be sure, anti-Semitism exists in America, and groups like the Ku Klux Klan and other hate organizations continue to exist, but every President and every Congress in the history of the United States has been supportive of full civil, legal and political rights for the American Jewish community. In no other major nation have Jews achieved equal participation in citizenship, with all of its rights, responsibilities and protections as in the United States.

To our fellow Jews in the sister democracy in the Middle East, the State of Israel, July 4 is also a significant anniversary. In 1976, on the very day on which the United States was officially celebrating the Bicentennial of its independence, one of the most daring military actions in modern history took place when a brave group of Israeli commandos rescued 104 hostages from an Air France jet who were being held captive by Palestinian and German terrorists at the Entebbe Air Base in Uganda. In America, citizens woke up to scenes of picturesque tall ships in New York and Boston harbors commemorating 200 years of independence for our nation. When Palestinian terrorists affiliated with the ultra-radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which did not recognize the authority of the PLO, were assisted by members of the radical German Baader-Meinhof gang, in the hijacking of an Air France plane with 229 passengers on a Tel Aviv-to-Paris flight, while it was over Athens, a days-long nightmare unfolded. The plane was permitted to refuel in Benghazi, Libya and then flew on to Entebbe, Uganda, a nation then ruled by Idi Amin, who was initially supportive of Israel, but who had become a bloodthirsty dictator who sympathized with the terrorists.

In a chilling incident, the German terrorists read out a list of passengers, carefully “selecting” those with Jewish names to be kept among the hostages. Among the Jewish hostages was Dora Bloch, a 74-year-old British Jewish grandmother, who was to become one of the fatalities of the incident, believed to have possibly been executed by one of Idi Amin’s henchmen while hospitalized.

A bold decision was made by then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his Cabinet, meeting in emergency session. Israel decided not to sit back and wait for “quiet diplomacy” which had failed in previous Palestinian terrorist incidents and agreed to a daring rescue operation. Israel sent in a number of troops on three large transport planes which traveled the 2,300 miles over hostile nations, including Egypt and the Sudan. Under the command of Yonathan (Yoni) Netanyahu, the brother of Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu, the commandos achieved complete surprise of both the terrorists and the Ugandan forces who defended them. All seven of the Palestinian and German terrorists were killed, along with 20 Ugandan troops and four Israelis, including Commander Yoni Netanyahu, who was shot in the back by one of the terrorists. He was given a burial with full military honors at the Israeli National Cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.

St. Louisan, and now Jewish Light board president, Milton Movitz happened to be a guest at the Diplomat Hotel in Jerusalem when a group of Israeli soliders, who had taken part in the rescue, came to rest upon returning from their incredible 4,600-mile round-trip rescue mission. Movitz heard one of the handsome young Israeli commandos greeting him with the words, “Happy Birthday, America,” taking note of the coincidence that the historic Rescue at Entebbe, one of Israel’s finest hours, took place on the 200th birthday of the United States of America.

As we celebrate July Fourth, let us again express gratitude for the many blessings and freedoms we have enjoyed and continue to enjoy as American citizens. And as fellow Jews who support our sister democracy, Israel, let us again relflect upon that brief and shining moment in which those brave Israeli commandos risked their lives to save the innocent Air France passengers from the hands of ruthless terrorists. May the twin legacies of American Independence Day and the Rescue at Entebbe inspire us in the years ahead to be worthy of these blessed events.