Political dialogue, intellectual life and shared remembrance. Eight moments, from the press of those days and from the archives, show what an ambassador’s work looked like up close.
The story in brief
Gazit was appointed ambassador to France in December 1975 and served in Paris from 1976 to 1979. He handled contacts with the French government during the Air France hijacking to Entebbe, the protest over Abu Daoud’s release and the dispute over the reactor France was building for Iraq.
Paris in the 1970s. President Giscard d’Estaing pursues a policy close to the Arab world, and the official doors open slowly for Israel. What stays open are the professional and personal channels, and that is where the ambassador worked.
Ministerial visits in fields such as health, science and culture kept a real connection alive even when the political dialogue was cool.
Why it mattered. Chirac, later President of France, was one of the most important addresses in Paris. In a city where the main door to Israel had all but closed, the side doors — health, science, culture — were sometimes the only way to keep talking.
A question to think about
How do you keep a door open with a reserved government, using every meeting, however modest?
Why it was hard. Every such meeting was also read as a political signal, in Paris and in the Arab world.
In June 1976 Gazit sat at Prime Minister Jacques Chirac’s meeting with Israeli Health Minister Victor Shemtov and French Health Minister Simone Veil. Earlier he had met President Valéry Giscard d’EstaingPresident of France, 1974–1981.More on Valéry Giscard d’Estaing in “People and events” →, part of a political dialogue the two countries kept up.Diplomatic record
8 November 1976Culture and ideas
02An encounter with Sartre
Historical context and questions to explore
Jean-Paul Sartre, one of the great thinkers of the 20th century, turned down the Nobel Prize in 1964 and used to refuse every official honour. And yet in 1976 he agreed to accept an honorary doctorate, from the Hebrew University of all places.
The ceremony was held at the Israeli embassy in Paris. Jean-Paul SartreFrench philosopher and writer.What they wanted: Justice for both peoples: Israel’s existence, and Palestinian rights.More on Jean-Paul Sartre in “People and events” → supported Israel’s right to exist while also expressing sympathy for the Palestinians.
Why it mattered. Sartre’s acceptance was a symbolic moment in Israel’s relations with Europe’s intellectuals, in the very years when many of them were turning away. The ceremony took place at the embassy, while Gazit headed it.
A question to think about
How do you host a philosopher who supported both Israel’s existence and Palestinian rights, without denying his views or giving up the moment?
Why it was hard. Much of the French left was critical of Israel, and any gesture by Sartre was read politically.
The archive identifies Sartre, de Beauvoir and Gazit. The photograph requires a licence for reuse.
12–13 January 1977A diplomatic protest
03Recalled to Jerusalem: a “period of protest”
In January 1977 Abu DaoudA leader of Black September; suspected of planning the massacre of the Israeli athletes in Munich in 1972.More on Abu Daoud in “People and events” →, one of the planners of the massacre of the eleven Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, was arrested in Paris. Within days France released him and flew him to Algiers, although Israel and West Germany had asked for his extradition.
Israel recalled its ambassador for consultations. On the evening of 12 January Gazit landed at David Ben-GurionIsrael’s first Prime Minister.What they wanted: A strong state, and allies beyond the ring of hostility.More on David Ben-Gurion in “People and events” → Airport, where the Director-General of the Foreign Ministry, Professor Shlomo Avineri, was waiting for him. Maariv’s headline the next day read: “Ambassador Gazit has arrived for a ‘period of protest’”. He told reporters that his coming was a step of protest, and that in Israel’s view the French government had breached the extradition treaty between the two countries. The embassy, he said, had learned of the release only from the media.
14 January 1977: Gazit explains to the press why he was recalled over the Abu Daoud affair. AP Archive / UPITN, 4:34. Topics and time codes are on the “Voice and image” page.
11 February 1977From crisis to dialogue
04At the Élysée, a month after the crisis
The background: in January 1977 France arrested Abu DaoudA leader of Black September; suspected of planning the massacre of the Israeli athletes in Munich in 1972.More on Abu Daoud in “People and events” → in Paris, one of the planners of the massacre of the Israeli athletes in Munich, and released him within days. On 12 January Israel recalled Gazit to Jerusalem “for consultations”, the diplomatic term for a sharp protest.
The challenge: to convey Israel’s anger without breaking the tie with a country Israel needed in Europe. In early February Gazit returned to Paris, and days later sat for an hour with Foreign Minister Louis de GuiringaudForeign Minister of France, 1976–1978.More on Louis de Guiringaud in “People and events” → for a “frank” clarification. It was the first senior meeting between the two countries since the crisis. Gazit made clear, courteously but plainly, that Israel did not regard France as a neutral mediator in the Middle East.
January 1977. In Paris, Abu Daoud is arrested, suspected of planning the massacre of the Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. Israel asks for his extradition, but within days he is released and boards a plane to Algeria.
The release caused outrage in Israel and abroad, and Israel recalled its ambassador, Gazit, for consultations. Planned visits were postponed.
Why it mattered. The Abu Daoud affair showed how fragile the relationship was: within days an ambassador was recalled and visits were cancelled. What came after — getting the embassy back to work, one invitation at a time — is the least visible part of diplomacy. Without it, a protest stays only a protest.
A question to think about
How do you return to Paris after a crisis and renew contacts without seeming to have forgotten?
Why it was hard. Israel wanted to protest forcefully without severing ties with an important European country.
Gazit sought a meeting to renew Israel’s invitation to Industry and Research Minister Michel d’Ornano, whose visit was postponed after the Abu DaoudA leader of Black September; suspected of planning the massacre of the Israeli athletes in Munich in 1972.More on Abu Daoud in “People and events” → affair.Diplomatic record
March 1977Explaining policy
06Clarifying Israel’s position
Historical context and questions to explore
Early 1977. There is a new president in the White House, Jimmy Carter, who speaks of a comprehensive peace conference and a “homeland” for the Palestinians. Elections are approaching in Jerusalem, and Europe is trying to shape the next settlement.
Europe, with France in the lead, sought to influence the shape of a settlement, and Israel sought to explain its positions in the key capitals.
Why it mattered. Within months the Middle East changed: Begin came to power, and in November Sadat came to Jerusalem. Whoever was explaining Israel in Paris early that year was explaining it on the eve of an upheaval no one yet foresaw.
A question to think about
How do you make Israel’s position clear without escalating, and leave room for the next conversation?
Why it was hard. France’s positions were closer to those of the Arab world, and dialogue with Israel was at times a dialogue of the deaf.
In an interview with Tribune juive, reported by Le Monde, Gazit made clear that Israel had not conditioned Yitzhak RabinPrime Minister, 1974–1977; earlier Deputy Chief of Staff and ambassador in Washington.What they wanted: To move step by step, through interim agreements, in return for American guarantees and arms.More on Yitzhak Rabin in “People and events” →’s planned visit to France on a return visit by a French leader.Diplomatic record
March 1978A diplomatic response
07Following the Coastal Road attack
Historical context and questions to explore
11 March 1978. Fatah gunmen who landed from the sea hijack a bus on the Coastal Road and murder dozens of Israelis, among them children. Israel launches the Litani Operation in southern Lebanon, and many in Europe criticise it.
The Security Council adopted Resolution 425, and the UN force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, was established; France was among the countries that sent troops.
Why it mattered. The Litani Operation opened a long chapter of Israeli involvement in southern Lebanon, and the UNIFIL force set up then stayed for decades. In moments like these, with European opinion critical of Israel, an ambassador is tested on whether he can remind people what came first.
A question to think about
How do you explain a terror attack and a military response to a critical French public, without losing it?
Why it was hard. Israel sought understanding for its right to protect its citizens; France emphasised Lebanon’s sovereignty and the role of the UN.
Following the Coastal Road attack, Gazit asked French Foreign Minister Louis de GuiringaudForeign Minister of France, 1976–1978.More on Louis de Guiringaud in “People and events” → to close the PLO information office in Paris. Contemporary JTA reporting documents the diplomatic request.Diplomatic record
4 June 1978Community and remembrance
08A connection through remembrance
Historical context and questions to explore
In both world wars thousands of Jews fought in France’s army, and many of them fell. In June 1978, thirty years after Israel’s independence and thirty-five after the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, people gathered at Bagneux, near Paris, to remember them.
A remembrance ceremony at the Bagneux cemetery near Paris linked French Jewish memory with Israel.
Why it mattered. Amid years of political dispute, the memory of Jewish soldiers who fell in France’s army was a place where Israel, France and French Jews could stand together. A ceremony like this is a reminder that relations between peoples are built on shared memory too, not only on agreements.
A question to think about
How do you build ties with French Jews and with the state’s institutions through what they all share, the memory of the fighters?
Why it was hard. Shared remembrance was one of the few bridges untouched by political disagreement.
The Bagneux remembrance ceremony was held under the joint patronage of Gazit and the French Secretary of State for Veterans, Maurice Plantier, as a French Jewish veterans’ bulletin recounts. It commemorated Jewish soldiers who died for France, Israel’s thirtieth anniversary, and thirty-five years since the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.Diplomatic record
