New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's homeland of Uganda just unveiled a bronze statue of the Israeli commando who died liberating hostages at Entebbe Airport, a tribute that clashes sharply with the mayor's own campaign against Israel's prime minister.
On August 1, Ugandan military officials gathered at the Old Entebbe Terminal to dedicate a statue of Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu, the Israeli officer killed during the legendary 1976 raid that freed more than a hundred hostages from terrorists. The ceremony marked the 50th anniversary of Operation Thunderbolt, and it took place in the country where Mamdani was born and where he still owns property.
The timing could hardly be worse for the mayor. Mamdani has repeatedly vowed to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoni's brother, if the Israeli leader sets foot in New York. He used the official @NYCMayor account on X to post a video calling Netanyahu a "war criminal." Now his birth country has planted a permanent monument to the Netanyahu family's most celebrated figure, right on the tarmac where the rescue unfolded half a century ago.
The raid itself remains one of the most dramatic hostage rescues in modern history. On June 27, 1976, Islamic terrorists hijacked Air France Flight 139, carrying 246 passengers from Tel Aviv to Paris, and diverted it to Entebbe Airport in Uganda, then controlled by dictator Idi Amin, who backed the hijackers. The terrorists demanded $5 million and the release of dozens of Palestinian prisoners.
Eight days later, on July 4, Israeli commandos flew more than 2,500 miles to storm the terminal. They rescued 102 of the 106 hostages. Yoni Netanyahu, who led the assault, was the only Israeli soldier killed, shot by a Ugandan sniper. The operation was so audacious that Hollywood turned it into a film within a year.
Uganda's relationship with Israel collapsed under Amin. But the two countries restored diplomatic ties in 1994, and Uganda has since become one of Israel's firmest allies on the African continent. General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Uganda's Chief of Defence Forces and the son of President Yoweri Museveni, has been the most vocal champion of that partnership.
Kainerugaba posted on X before the unveiling:
"In order to strengthen our close blood relations with Israel, we shall soon unveil a statue to Yoni Netanyahu at the exact spot he was killed at Entebbe Airport. Yoni was the big brother of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. God bless Uganda and Israel."
His pro-Israel stance goes well beyond statues. Fox News reported that Kainerugaba publicly declared Uganda would enter any conflict on Israel's side if the Jewish state faced destruction, telling followers, "We stand with Israel because we are Christians." Uganda maintains roughly 45,000 active military personnel and has positioned itself as a security partner for Israel in East Africa.
Kainerugaba has also cited the personal debts behind the alliance. "Israel stood with us when we were nobodies in the 1980s and 1990s. Why wouldn't we defend her now?" he said, as Breitbart reported. Israel historically trained Ugandan forces and maintains close intelligence ties with the country.
Mamdani was born in Uganda and holds dual American and Ugandan citizenship. He moved to the United States at age seven after being raised in South Africa and still owns four acres in Jinja, a city in eastern Uganda. His father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a Columbia University professor who released a book in February titled "Slow Poison: Idi Amin, Yoweri Museveni and the Making of the Ugandan State." The New York Post reported that the elder Mamdani's book portrayed Amin, the dictator who backed the Entebbe hijackers, as a product of Israeli interference.
Jonathan Beloff, who reviewed the book, challenged that framing directly:
"Despite accusing Israel of Idi Amin's rise to power, Mamdani ignores how Amin allowed, and even supported, the hijacking and attack on Jewish and Israeli passengers on Air France Flight 139."
So the picture is this: the mayor's father writes a book blaming Israel for Amin's rise. Uganda itself, the country both Mamdanis call home, responds by erecting a monument to the Israeli soldier who died rescuing hostages that Amin helped hold captive. The father's thesis and the homeland's tribute point in opposite directions.
Meanwhile, a resurfaced interview clip of the mayor allegedly adopting a "fake" Ugandan accent drew its own round of criticism in early August, adding another layer of scrutiny to Mamdani's relationship with the country of his birth.
Dov Hikind, the former Brooklyn Democratic assemblyman who founded Americans Against Antisemitism, did not hold back about the political implications. Hikind named his own son Yoni after the fallen commando, a detail that underscores how deeply the Entebbe rescue resonates in Jewish-American life.
Hikind said of the statue:
"I think we call it poetic justice. I have no doubt this makes the mayor lose sleep, and he hates every moment of it. Too bad."
He connected the Entebbe story directly to the present:
"It's very personal for me, he was a hero of the Jewish people and was ultimately dealing with what Israel is dealing with today: terrorism."
Hikind also drew a blunt historical parallel between the mayor and the dictator who enabled the 1976 hijacking:
"Look at how things changed: Amin, who supported the terrorists and enemies of Israel, and Mamdani, are very similar. No young person today knows who Amin is. The same will happen to Mamdani."
The ceremony at the Old Entebbe Terminal was framed as a testament to the security partnership, mutual trust, and diplomatic reconciliation between Uganda and Israel, according to the Kampala Post. Several Ugandan military officials attended. The statue now stands at the very spot where Yoni Netanyahu fell fifty years ago, a permanent marker of the alliance between the two countries.
Uganda, in other words, has spent three decades rebuilding its relationship with Israel after the Amin era. It has restored diplomatic ties, deepened military cooperation, and now erected a monument to the Israeli officer who died on Ugandan soil fighting terrorists that Amin helped harbor. The country has moved decisively toward Israel.
Its most prominent native son in American politics has moved in the opposite direction. Mamdani has used the power of the New York City mayor's office to call the Israeli prime minister a war criminal and threaten him with arrest. His father's book reframes the dictator who aided terrorists as a victim of Israeli meddling. The family's posture toward Israel stands in stark contrast to the posture of the country they come from.
When your own homeland builds a bronze statue to honor the brother of the man you have vowed to arrest, the contradiction is not subtle, it is cast in metal and bolted to the ground.
