Secret files reveal the turmoil behind the Entebbe rescue

Fifty years after the Entebbe raid, Israel’s State Archives has released an unprecedented cache of thousands of pages, including government protocols, cables, handwritten notes and secret records from the week between the Air France hijacking and the rescue in Uganda. The files show confusion in the first hours, fierce arguments over whether to negotiate for prisoners, and the growing consideration of a military option that was far from obvious.

The hijacking reached the Israeli cabinet on Sunday, June 27, 1976, when Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin announced that the Air France plane, which had taken off from Lod at 9:50 a.m. and landed in Athens at 12:30 p.m., had likely been seized after leaving Athens. At that stage Jerusalem knew almost nothing. Rabin later told ministers there were 83 Israelis aboard, while additional passengers had boarded in Athens. He pushed early to make France bear responsibility, writing by hand, “There is no need for that. My intention is to place the government of France as the responsible party for the fate of the Israelis flying on the Air France plane.”

The documents show how Israel tried to prevent the hostages from being identified and separated. The Foreign Ministry pressed the French presidency, the foreign ministry and Air France not to publish passenger lists, and Ambassador Mordechai Gazit asked that “at no stage” there be any separation between passengers. France then formally accepted responsibility for the passengers’ safety. The records also reveal that Libya first refused to refuel the aircraft, but relented after the hijackers threatened to take off anyway. The plane then departed shortly before 10 p.m. toward an unknown destination.

Inside Jerusalem, the cabinet and a special ministerial team met repeatedly, 18 times in all, while security chiefs debated whether a military rescue was possible. By June 29, IDF Chief of Staff Motta Gur said a pre-deadline operation was possible, but he would not recommend it until the fate of the hostages and the booby-trap question were clear. Rabin was still asking, “How will we even get to Uganda?” Meanwhile, Shimon Peres warned that negotiations would carry a future cost, saying they would boost terrorism, while Rabin argued that he could not explain why dead bodies could be returned but living people could not.

The final decision came on July 3, after a compromise authorized continued efforts to free the hostages, including a possible exchange of detainees in Israel, without specifying numbers or organizations. Rabin insisted that only the full cabinet could approve such a step. Peres acknowledged the danger, saying Israel was clearly risking civilian lives, but also called the plan “one of the boldest operations of Israel.” On July 4, 1976, Israeli aircraft landed in Entebbe, Sayeret Matkal stormed the terminal, and the hostages were brought home. Four hostages were killed and Sayeret Matkal commander Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu died in the raid.