During the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, members of the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September killed 11 Israeli athletes. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir secretly ordered the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad to track down and eliminate those responsible for the massacre.
Over the next seven years, a covert operation known as “Operation Wrath of God” targeted and assassinated more than a dozen suspects in Europe and the Middle East. This covert operation, which involved a specially trained hit-team known as ‘Kidon’ (bayonet in Hebrew), has been the subject of numerous books, documentaries and is the central theme of Steven Spielberg’s film “Munich.”
Munich Massacre
On September 5, 1972, eight members of Black September infiltrated Munich’s Olympic Village. Armed with AK-47s, they took 11 Israeli athletes and coaches hostage, killing two in the initial assault. The terrorists demanded the release of 234 prisoners from Israeli jails. The standoff lasted several hours, during which German authorities attempted to negotiate. The terrorists then moved to an airfield, where they were told that two Bell UH-1 military helicopters would fly them to Cairo. A failed rescue attempt by German police resulted in the deaths of all remaining hostages, one German police officer, and five terrorists.
Operation Wrath of God
After the Munich massacre, Prime Minister Golda Meir, along with Mossad chief Zvi Zamir and counterterrorism adviser Aharon Yariv, developed a plan to eliminate the leadership of Black September and other related terrorist groups. This covert mission involved carrying out assassinations on foreign soil, which had massive political and moral implications. The Israeli leadership believed that decisive action was necessary to prevent future attacks and to bring justice to the Munich victims.
Planning the operation
A special unit within Mossad, known as ‘Kidon’, was tasked with carrying out the assassinations. This unit consisted of highly trained assassins skilled in various types of combat and covert operations.
The target list included key individuals believed responsible for planning and carrying out the Munich attack, as well as other high-ranking members of Black September and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The aim was to “crush the head of the snake”, eliminating its leadership.
The murders
Over the next several years, Mossad operatives carried out a number of high-profile assassinations in Europe and the Middle East. Some of the most notable of these operations are as follows:
1. Vael Zwaiter
The first target was Wael Zwaiter, a Palestinian poet and translator living in Rome. The Mossad believed he was the head of Black September in Italy and was involved in the Munich attack. On October 16, 1972, two Mossad operatives ambushed Zwaiter in the lobby of his apartment and shot him 11 times. However, it later emerged that the intelligence about Zwaiter was unconfirmed, and his connection to the Munich massacre was doubtful.
2. Mahmood Hamshari
Mahmoud Hamshari, the PLO representative in France, was another prime target. Mossad operatives tracked him down to his Paris apartment and managed to plant a bomb in his telephone by posing as journalists. They detonated the bomb on December 8, 1972, killing Hamshari.
3. Hussein al-Bashir
Hussein al-Bashir, a PLO activist living in Cyprus, was next targeted. On January 24, 1973, Mossad agents planted a bomb under his bed in a hotel in Nicosia. Bashir died instantly in the explosion.
4. Beirut operation
One of the most daring operations took place in Beirut on April 10, 1973. Mossad operatives, accompanied by Israeli commandos from the elite Sayeret Matkal unit, infiltrated Beirut disguised as women. The operation targeted three prominent figures: Mohammed Youssef al-Najjar, Kamal Adwan and Kamal Nassar. The hit squads, including Ehud Barak, who later became Israel’s prime minister, managed to reach the homes of their targets and eliminate them.
5. Ali Hassan Salameh
Ali Hassan Salameh, known as the “Red Prince,” was one of Mossad’s most elusive targets. Salameh was the operations chief of Black September and a close associate of former PLO chief Yasser Arafat. After a failed attempt in Norway, where it mistakenly killed an innocent Moroccan waiter named Ahmed Bouchikhi, Mossad intensified its efforts to locate Salameh. Success came in 1979 when an undercover operative who had befriended Salameh and his wife provided information. Salameh was assassinated by a car bomb in Beirut on January 22, 1979.
