Following the retirement of General David Elazar due to the criticism of the Agranat Commission he was appointed in April 1974 as the 10th IDF Chief of Staff. In 1976, he was responsible for planning and carrying out Israel's rescue of 102 hostages from Entebbe Airport in Uganda. In 1977, Gur warned shortly before Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat's visit to Jerusalem that the trip might be a ruse to hide Egyptian plans for a war. He put the army on alert and was nearly fired for his lapse in judgment. In 1978, Gur guided a campaign in Lebanon to drive out Palestinian guerrillas. He served as chief of staff until 1978.