What you need to know about Netanyahu’s controversial new ‘Air Force One’

From the mid-1970s onward, heads of state flew in Boeing 707 airliners converted by Israel Aerospace Industries to VIP configuration. These planes were used Boeings purchased from commercial airlines or foreign heads of state. Most of them remained in service only a few years, as they were either too old or the IAF had other operational needs of them.

The most famous of these aircraft, called Re’em (Oryx), was No. 118 – originally an Air France plane. It flew Menachem Begin on his historic 1979 visit to Egypt, as well as to the United States the preceding year for the Camp David talks, which resulted in the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. The last of these Boeings, No. 272, served Benjamin Netanyahu in his first term, and also Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon. The plane was later converted to an aerial tanker for IAF fighter jets, a role it still fulfills today.