Editing Entebbe raid (section)

=== Western Bloc ===
Western nations spoke in support of the raid. West Germany called the raid "an act of self-defence". Switzerland and France praised the operation. Representatives of the United Kingdom and United States offered significant praise, calling the Entebbe raid "an impossible operation". Some in the United States noted that the hostages were freed on 4 July 1976, 200 years after the signing of the [[United States Declaration of Independence]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7340000/newsid_7349900/7349983.stm?bw=nb&mp=wm&news=1&ms3=6&ms_javascript=true&bbcws=2 | title=Age of Terror: Episode one | date=16 April 2008 | work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=20 June 1995 |title=עכשיו, במבצע – תרבות ובידור |trans-title=Now, on sale – culture and entertainment |url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3525616,00.html |access-date=24 July 2011 |publisher=Ynet}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=מבצע אנטבה |trans-title=Antebe Operation |url=http://www.mota.co.il/antebe.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721135953/http://www.mota.co.il/antebe.htm |archive-date=21 July 2011 |access-date=24 July 2011 |website=Mota.co.il |language=he}}</ref> In private conversation with Israeli Ambassador Dinitz, [[Henry Kissinger]] sounded criticism for Israeli use of US equipment during the operation, but that criticism was not made public at the time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://foia.state.gov/documents/Kissinger/0000BE67.pdf |title=Conversation between Kissinger and Dinitz, 5 July 1976 |access-date=24 July 2011 |archive-date=13 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913110350/https://foia.state.gov/documents/Kissinger/0000BE67.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> In mid-July 1976, the supercarrier {{USS|Ranger|CV-61|6}} and her escorts entered the Indian Ocean and operated off the Kenyan coast in response to a threat of military action by forces from Uganda.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ussranger.org/home/ranger-history|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203193846/http://ussranger.org/home/ranger-history/|url-status=dead|title=USS ''Ranger'' Bicentennial Cruise Book|archive-date=3 December 2013}}</ref>

The hijacked aircraft's pilot, Captain [[Michel Bacos]], was awarded the [[Legion of Honour]], and the other crew members were awarded the [[National Order of Merit (France)|French Order of Merit]].<ref name="flight">{{Cite magazine |date=17 July 1976 |title=Entebbe Postscript |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1976/1976%20-%201254.html |magazine=Flight International |page=122 |via=Flightglobal Archive}}</ref><ref>''Air et cosmos'', Issues 618–634, Impr. Reaumur., 1976, p. 48 (in French)</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.thejc.com/lifestyle/interviews/68894/michel-bacos-air-france-hero-entebbe | title=Michel Bacos: the Air France hero of Entebbe | date=15 June 2012 | work=The Jewish Chronicle | access-date=28 December 2013 | archive-date=4 December 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204080719/http://www.thejc.com/lifestyle/interviews/68894/michel-bacos-air-france-hero-entebbe | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=11 June 2011 |title=Je dois ma vie à Tsahal |trans-title=I owe my life to the IDF |url=http://www.hamodia.fr/article.php?id=2257 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230234601/http://www.hamodia.fr/article.php?id=2257 |archive-date=30 December 2013 |newspaper=Hamodia |language=fr }}</ref>

In the ensuing years, Betser and the Netanyahu brothers – [[Iddo Netanyahu|Iddo]] and [[Benjamin Netanyahu|Benjamin]], all Sayeret Matkal veterans – argued in increasingly public forums about who was to blame for the unexpected early firefight that caused Yonatan's death and partial loss of tactical surprise.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Roffe-Ofir |first=Sharon |date=2 July 2006 |title=Special: Entebbe's open wound |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3270234,00.html |access-date=2024-06-13 |work=Ynetnews}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Hamerman |first=Josh |date=2 April 2007 |title=Battling against 'the falsification of history' |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3384084,00.html |access-date=2024-06-13 |work=Ynetnews}}</ref>

As a result of the operation, the United States military developed rescue teams modelled on the unit employed in the Entebbe rescue.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dershowitz |first=Alan M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u8w8Yg-5ecsC |title=Preemption: A Knife that Cuts Both Ways |date=2006 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0-393-32934-6 |pages=91}}</ref> One notable attempt was [[Operation Eagle Claw]], a failed 1980 rescue of 53 American embassy personnel held hostage in Tehran during the [[Iran hostage crisis]].<ref>Houghton, David Patrick. ''U.S. Foreign Policy and the Iran Hostage Crisis'', Cambridge Univ. Press (2001) pp. 86–87</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Nalty |first= Bernard C. |title= Winged Shield, Winged Sword 1950–1997: A History of the United States Air Force |publisher= University Press of the Pacific |date=November 2003 |isbn=978-1-4102-0902-3}}</ref>

In a letter dated 13 July 1976, the Supreme Commander's Staff of the [[Military history of Iran#Pahlavi Era (1925 to 1979)|Imperial Iranian Armed Forces]] praised the Israeli commandos for the mission and extended condolences for "the loss and martyrdom" of Netanyahu.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-after-entebbe-called-yoni-netanyahu-a-martyr/|title=In 1976 letter, Iran hailed Entebbe rescue, mourned death of Yoni Netanyahu|last=Ginsburg|first=Mitch|date=8 July 2015|location=Jerusalem|access-date=8 May 2016|work=[[The Times of Israel]]}}</ref>

F-BVGG, the aircraft in the hijacking of Air France Flight 139, was repaired and returned to service with Air France.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ranter |first=Harro |title=ASN Aircraft accident Airbus A300B4-203 F-BVGG Entebbe Airport (EBB) |url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19760627-1 |access-date=19 November 2019 |website=Aviation Safety Network |publisher=[[Flight Safety Foundation]]}}</ref><!-- The ASN states:
"Aircraft damage: unknown
Aircraft fate: repaired"
The damage might have been minor or substantial. --> In April 1996, the aircraft was leased to [[Vietnam Airlines]] for three months. In December the same year, the aircraft was converted into a freighter and was delivered to S–C Aviation, having been re-registered as N742SC. In 1998, the aircraft was delivered to [[MNG Airlines]] and re-registered as TC-MNA. In 2009, the aircraft was placed into storage at Istanbul Atatürk Airport and was scrapped in 2020.{{Cn|date=September 2024}}