The Kenyans were not exactly allies of Israel. But relations between

The Kenyans were not exactly allies of Israel. But relations between President Jomo Kenyatta’s security services and Mossad had been close for some years. I flew in with three leading Mossad men. While one of them called on the aging President Kenyatta, our main point of contact, was the head of Kenya’s security services. Since the secrecy of the mission had to be preserved, we couldn’t make advance preparations for refueling or the additional 707 which we intended to fly in as a field hospital. But he smoothed the way for us to do both, without anyone asking too many questions. The Mossad men took the lead in arranging to get Rabin’s questions answered. They contacted a pilot they knew. The pilot flew to Entebbe early on Saturday morning, circled, and, after he was cleared to land, claimed mechanical difficulties and flew out again. I had his telephoto pictures by mid- morning and phoned Rabin’s intelligence officer to let him know we’d confirmed there was a clear path to the old terminal. We still had to make sure the captive passengers were there, however. A nurse from Kampala who had been allowed to visit them made three further visits: late Saturday afternoon, then shortly after the first Hercules had taken off from Sharm al-Sheikh, and finally around nine at night. I was able to reassure Rabin that the question to his second question was also “yes”. Although all of the C-130s were already airborne, it was only then that he gave the mission the final go-ahead. As commander of Sayeret Matkal, Pd always found running an operation from a command post hugely frustrating. This was even worse. Once we got word the Israeli force was on the way to Uganda, we put in place the arrangements for refueling. If all went well, the first C-130, with Yont’s assault team and at least some of the hostages, was due to reach Entebbe and begin the assault at midnight Saturday. Assuming there were no major problems, it would take an hour at most. All / could do now, from 300 miles away, was wait. Shortly after midnight, Kuti radioed me with a terse message: the first of the Hercules had left Entebbe for Nairobi, and the command plane was returning to Israel. About quarter to one in the morning on July 4, the transport planes began their staggered arrival. When the first Hercules taxied to a halt, I went out to meet it. As its giant rear door lowered, Dan was the first person I saw. I could tell from the awkward silence, the lack of any greeting, something must have 175 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_011646