"Wrath of God": 10 Points On Israel's Response To Munich Massacre
Today marks the anniversary of the 1972 Munich massacre, where eight members of Black September took 11 Israeli athletes hostage at the Olympics. Two were killed initially, and a failed rescue led to the deaths of all hostages, a German officer.
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- After the horrific 1972 Munich Olympics massacre that shook the whole world, Israel implemented a program of sending covert agents abroad to kill enemies, an approach that is still active today.
- The national intelligence agency of Israel Mossad launched Operation "Wrath of God" to hunt down Black September members, targeting the group's leadership with covert assassinations overseas.
- Ehud Barak, former Israeli prime minister, who at the time served as a commando leading an elite military unit, recalls the Munich massacre as a shock that ignited public outrage and a drive for revenge.
- Under Prime Minister Golda Meir, Israel devised a strategy to "smash the head of the serpent" by targeting Black September's leadership in Europe and the Middle East.
- In 1973, Israeli operatives, disguised as women, assassinated three senior Palestinian leaders in Beirut in a daring mission involving speedboats and military deception.
- Ehud Barak himself, disguised as a woman during the Beirut mission, led the team that killed Mohammed Youssef al-Najjar, Kamal Adwan, and Kamal Nasser.
- Mossad's overconfidence led to a failure in Norway, where agents mistakenly killed a Moroccan waiter, Ahmed Bouchikhi, instead of Black September leader Ali Hassan Salameh.
- After years of tracking Salameh, Mossad finally assassinated him in 1979 in Beirut, using a car bomb, after infiltrating his social circle.
- Israel continued targeted assassinations against its enemies, including Palestinian militants during the Intifada, and later expanded operations to Iranian targets.
- Mossad's assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh highlights the ongoing "shadow war" with Iran, aimed at preventing its nuclear capability development.
