 Genscher's popularity with Israel declined further when he endorsed the release of the three captured attackers following the hijacking of a Lufthansa aircraft on 29 October 1972.In the SPD–FDP coalition, Genscher helped shape Brandt's policy of deescalation with the communist East, commonly known as "Ostpolitik", which was continued under chancellor Helmut Schmidt after Brandt's resignation in 1974.He would later be a driving factor in continuing this policy in the new conservative-liberal coalition under Helmut Kohl.