IDF Commando Amir Ofer Reflects on Bond with Fallen Hero Arnon Zamora After Antibe Rescue Mission

Amir Ofer, the IDF commando who was the first to breach the terminal during the 1976 Entebbe rescue operation, shared his special connection with Arnon Zamora, a Yamam unit soldier killed in a later hostage rescue mission in Gaza. In a Ynet interview on Tuesday, Ofer described how Zamora reached out to him about six months before the October 7 war, asking him to lecture on the Entebbe operation. Their bond deepened after the war began, when Zamora called Ofer to discuss the heavy burden he felt over a failed rescue attempt at the "Pesi house," near their area of operation. Ofer recounted how Zamora repeatedly questioned how the Entebbe mission succeeded while their own mission did not, expressing Zamora’s search for support. Ofer reassured him that under the circumstances, even divine intervention would not have saved the hostages, emphasizing that their failure was not due to lack of professionalism.

Ofer encouraged Zamora to write down every detail of his mission to help process the trauma, which Zamora later said greatly helped him. Reflecting on the Entebbe raid, Ofer described being part of two teams entering the terminal, where he was the first to engage terrorists holding hostages. His team neutralized four terrorists, preventing a massacre. He also witnessed Yoni Netanyahu, brother of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, being hit during the firefight and later learned of his death.

The same day, a commemorative event was held at the Yitzhak Rabin Center marking 50 years since the Entebbe operation, titled "From Entebbe to Arnon Operation." The event included hostages, bereaved families, soldiers, and commanders. Dalia Rabin, daughter of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin who authorized the original mission, opened the event with a call for unity and action against incitement. Former IDF Chief of Staff and party leader Gadi Eizenkot also spoke, warning of the dangerous political direction Israel is heading, criticizing recent legislation affecting military conscription and expressing concern over the nation’s future cohesion.