Monday marked the 40th anniversary of the heroic Israeli operation to free some 100 hostages held by German and Palestinian terrorists at the Entebbe airport in Uganda. In the course of the operation, its commanding officer, Jonathan (Yoni) Netanyahu, brother of the current prime minister, lost his life. Fiamma Nirenstein reflects on the raid’s significance:

Only a sense of moral necessity, dictated by history, could inspire . . . an action like the one Israel boldly carried out in Entebbe, 3,500 kilometers from its borders. . . .

The objective was to rescue the Jewish prisoners held by the terrorists, thus definitely putting an end to the idea that Jews are easy prey for anti-Semites, who have directed their furor against the Jewish people throughout history while the world looked on with indifference. . . .

The image of [Yoni Netanyahu], the generous young hero cut down in the field of battle, in the full of his young life, has come to represent the same Israeli audacity—envied by the whole world—that led to the bombing of Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor (another mission impossible) and the kidnapping Adolf Eichmann. Entebbe is, along with the Six-Day War, the achievement that more than any other has changed the image of the Jewish people in the eyes of the world, as well as the Jews’ own perception of themselves.

No longer are Jews sheep being led to the slaughter; instead they are doers of deeds once deemed impossible. Since then, Jews no longer need feel abandoned to the whims of their enemies. Jews can now believe that someone will come for them—and those people will be Israeli soldiers. Since Entebbe, Jews are no longer alone.

Early Friday morning, Israel attacked military installations near the Iranian cities of Isfahan and nearby Natanz, the latter being one of the hubs of the country’s nuclear program. Jerusalem is not taking credit for the attack, and none of the details are too certain, but it seems that the attack involved multiple drones, likely launched from within Iran, as well as one or more missiles fired from Syrian or Iraqi airspace. Strikes on Syrian radar systems shortly beforehand probably helped make the attack possible, and there were reportedly strikes on Iraq as well.

Iran itself is downplaying the attack, but the S-300 air-defense batteries in Isfahan appear to have been destroyed or damaged. This is a sophisticated Russian-made system positioned to protect the Natanz nuclear installation. In other words, Israel has demonstrated that Iran’s best technology can’t protect the country’s skies from the IDF. As Yossi Kuperwasser puts it, the attack, combined with the response to the assault on April 13,

clarified to the Iranians that whereas we [Israelis] are not as vulnerable as they thought, they are more vulnerable than they thought. They have difficulty hitting us, but we have no difficulty hitting them.

Nobody knows exactly how the operation was carried out. . . . It is good that a question mark hovers over . . . what exactly Israel did. Let’s keep them wondering. It is good for deniability and good for keeping the enemy uncertain.

The fact that we chose targets that were in the vicinity of a major nuclear facility but were linked to the Iranian missile and air forces was a good message. It communicated that we can reach other targets as well but, as we don’t want escalation, we chose targets nearby that were involved in the attack against Israel. I think it sends the message that if we want to, we can send a stronger message. Israel is not seeking escalation at the moment.