6. Operation Isotope 1972
On May 8th, 1972 a passenger flight from Vienna to Tel Aviv was hijacked by four members of the Black September Organization, a Palestinian terrorist group. Sabena Flight 571 was a Boeing 707 aircraft with 97 passengers and crew aboard. The two men and two women acted as couples on the plane all while concealing handguns and explosives.
Twenty minutes into the flight the hijackers made their way into the cockpit. They took command of the plane and made it a point to separate the Jewish passengers and force them to the back of the plane. The hijackers forced the pilot, Captain Levy, to land the plan at Lod Airport. Once on the ground they demanded the release of 315 Palestinian prisoners in Israel. The terrorists said they would blow up the plane with all 97 people on board if their demands were not met.
Captain Levy managed to send a coded message to the Israelis asking for their help. The Defense Minister and the Transport Minister prepared a rescue operation known as Operation Isotope. 16 Sayeret Matkal commandos, including Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, were dispatched for the mission. On the night of May 8th, they disabled the plane. Captain Levy spent the time waiting for rescue talking with the hijackers about everything he could think of to distract them.
The following morning, the commandos appeared in worker’s coveralls explaining that the plane was in need of repair. Within two minutes of boarding the plane the male hijackers were killed. The women terrorists were captured and the hostages rescued. Three hostages were wounded in the exchange of gunfire on the plane, one of which later died from her injuries. Benjamin Netanyahu was the only commando wounded when another commando accidentally discharged his weapon.
The two women were sentenced to 220 years in prison but were released in 1983 as part of a prisoner exchange after the Lebanon War.