Newly released documents from July 1976 detail the Israeli government's crisis deliberations following the hijacking of an Air France flight by Palestinian militants, the demands for prisoner releases, and the decision-making that led to the rescue mission. The protocols include conversations, notes, and the operational plan, according to reports.
Fifty years after Operation Entebbe, the Israel State Archive has released yet another layer of internal government documentation from July 1976: the declassified protocols of cabinet deliberations throughout the hostage crisis. This latest release—first reported by The Zioneer on Friday morning—includes the raw transcripts of ministerial debates, operational plans, and notes passed between ministers, following the earlier publication of phone logs and thousands of other documents on the 50th anniversary.
The thread began at Fri 06:01 Jerusalem when The Zioneer reported on the archive's release of thousands of documents, protocols, and handwritten notes showing the cabinet's internal drama, including efforts to shift responsibility to France to prevent the separation of Israeli hostages. Within the same hour, further reporting detailed the full protocols—including the passenger manifest, intelligence updates, and Shimon Peres' dramatic appeal on the operation's risks—as well as recordings of phone calls from Eli Mizrahi, chief of staff to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, to Rabin's home, Foreign Minister Yigal Allon, and other officials, capturing real-time deliberations and Israeli frustration with French reluctance. At Fri 07:02 Jerusalem, The Zioneer highlighted a chilling exchange from the cabinet debate: ministers grappling with the question 'We won't return live hostages?'
The declassification comes as part of a concerted release by the Israel State Archive marking the 50th anniversary of the July 4, 1976 rescue mission at Entebbe Airport in Uganda—a landmark counter-terrorist operation that remains a foundational symbol of Israeli military ingenuity and national resolve, as The Zioneer has previously reported. The hijackers, Palestinian militants who had taken over an Air France flight, demanded the release of 53 prisoners held in Israel and abroad, along with a ransom, in exchange for the hostages.
What remains open: the newly released protocols are now publicly available, and further analysis may emerge from historians and researchers examining the full transcripts. No additional material from the archive has been announced.
5 developments
- DevelopingDeclassified protocols reveal Rabin-Peres clash on releasing prisoners for hostages
- DevelopingTehran and Washington sign MOU, Amichai Stein reports
- DevelopingReport: Netanyahu folded after planes were already in air in exchange with Trump
- DevelopingEntebbe survivor describes his family's last-moment rescue in rare interview, 50 years on
Source and signal
- Internal intake