The Israel State Archive has released for the first time the full protocols of cabinet deliberations during the 1976 Entebbe hostage crisis, including the passenger manifest, intelligence updates, and Shimon Peres' dramatic appeal on the operation's risks. The release marks the 50th anniversary of the rescue mission.
The Israel State Archive on Friday morning declassified and published an unprecedented collection of documents from the 1976 Operation Entebbe, exactly 50 years after the raid. The release includes the original passenger manifest of Air France Flight 139, the intelligence briefings that tracked the hijacked aircraft to Entebbe Airport in Uganda, and the full protocols of cabinet meetings — including then-Defense Minister Shimon Peres' emotional remarks about the risk of the rescue attempt and the authorization he received from Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to proceed.
As The Zioneer reported earlier this week in multiple bulletins and articles, the archive's disclosure marks a significant expansion of the public historical record. Earlier releases focused on the cabinet's shift from diplomacy to military action; today's cache adds the firsthand operational documents. The archive described the material as "chilling even 50 years later."
The documents also reveal the behind-the-scenes diplomatic maneuvering, including attempts to shift responsibility to France to prevent separation of the Israeli hostages, a factor that shaped Israel's decision to launch the raid. The release is part of a broader wave of commemorations and archival disclosures marking the half-century since the famed rescue mission.
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