Editing Entebbe raid (section)

====Aircraft refuelling====
While planning the raid, the Israeli forces had to plan how to refuel the [[Lockheed C-130 Hercules]] aircraft they intended to use while en route to Entebbe. The Israelis lacked the logistical capacity to [[Aerial refueling|aerially refuel]] four to six aircraft so far from Israeli airspace. While several East African nations, including the logistically preferred choice Kenya, were sympathetic, none wished to incur the wrath of Amin or the Palestinians by allowing the Israelis to land their aircraft within their borders.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

The raid could not proceed without assistance from at least one East African government. The Israeli government secured permission from Kenya for the IDF task force to cross Kenyan airspace and refuel at what is today [[Jomo Kenyatta International Airport]]. Kenyan [[Ministry of Agriculture (Kenya)|Minister of Agriculture]] [[Bruce Mackenzie (British intelligence operative)|Bruce MacKenzie]] persuaded Kenyan President [[Jomo Kenyatta]] to permit Mossad to collect intelligence prior to the operation, and to allow the [[Israeli Air Force]] access to the Nairobi airport.<ref name="jpost1">{{cite news|last=Melman |first=Yossi |url=http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Analysis-Israel-and-Kenya-blood-ties-326880 |title=A history of cooperation between Israel and Kenya |work=The Jerusalem Post |access-date=26 September 2013}}</ref> MacKenzie's support for the operation came after [[Sir Maurice Oldfield]], the then head of [[United Kingdom|Britain's]] [[MI6]] intelligence agency, put his contacts in Mossad in touch with MacKenzie, who had been an MI6 contact for some time.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pearce |first1=Martin |title=Spymaster: the Life of Britain's Most Decorated Cold War Spy and Head of MI6, Sir Maurice Oldfield |date=2016 |publisher=Bantam Press |location=London |page=285 |edition=1}}</ref> The Jewish owner of the Block hotels chain in Kenya, along with other members of the Jewish and Israeli community in [[Nairobi]], may also have used their political and economic influence to help persuade Kenya's President Jomo Kenyatta to help Israel.<ref>{{cite book |title=Entebbe: The Most Daring Raid of Israel's Special Forces |last=Dunstan |first=Simon |year=2011 |publisher=Rosen Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-4488-1868-6 |page=53 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KrL9bHLpOq4C&q=Entebbe+%22Jomo+Kenyatta+airport%22&pg=PA53 |access-date=27 December 2012}}</ref>

Uganda's ambassador to [[Lesotho]], [[Isaac Lumago]],<ref name= eichner>{{cite news| url = https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4824146,00.html| title = Idi Amin's son: 'My dream is to meet with Entebbe victims' families to apologize'| last = Eichner| first = Itamar| date = 4 July 2016| newspaper = Ynetnews| access-date = 12 August 2019}}</ref> overheard some of the details of the operation from [[Kenya Air Force]] officers who were discussing the possibility of Israeli compensation for the assistance and forwarded the information to Ugandan commander [[Isaac Maliyamungu]]. Maliyamungu did not alert Amin or take any action on the intelligence,<ref>{{cite web| url = https://cija.ca/operation-thunderbolt/| title = Operation Thunderbolt: Daring and Luck| last = Alexander| first = Ben| date = 4 July 2016| publisher = [[Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs]]| access-date = 17 April 2019| archive-date = 17 April 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190417165936/https://cija.ca/operation-thunderbolt/| url-status = dead}}</ref> allegedly dismissing the report as "gasiya" (rubbish).<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/PeoplePower/Maliyamungu-gatekeeper-Amin--man-Farouk-Minawa/689844-5230706-56fjh9z/index.html| title = Rise of Maliyamungu from gatekeeper to Amin's right-hand man| last = Ocen| first = Felix| date = 11 August 2019| website = Daily Monitor| access-date = 12 August 2019}}</ref> According to Amin's son, Jaffar Remo, the Ugandan president still managed to receive Lumago's warning via telephone and, after completing his responsibilities at the OAU meeting, boarded a plane and flew back to Uganda.<ref name= eichner/> An ex-agent of Uganda's intelligence service, the [[State Research Bureau (organisation)|State Research Bureau]], also claimed that Amin was informed by Lumago of the imminent raid. The agent stated that Amin was terrified of possible reprisals in case his troops actually fought the Israeli military, allegedly resulting in his ordering that the [[Uganda Army (1971–1980)|Uganda Army]] should not open fire on Israeli aircraft during a possible raid.{{sfn|Seftel|2010|p=216}}