The Mossad intelligence service conducted a daring campaign to assassinate those allegedly involved in the Munich massacre in 1972.
On September 5, 1972, the Palestinian Black September Armed Forces kidnapped and killed 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. Soon after, Tel Aviv began a vengeful campaign, "Mivtza Za'am Ha'el," to assassinate individuals involved in the massacre, according to Global. Recon.
Just two days after the massacre, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir formed the X Committee, a small group of government officials, to develop a revenge plan. Prime Minister Meir and Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan headed the commission, while Gen. Aharon Yariv and Mossad Zvi Zamir intelligence chief played the lead role in coordinating the assassination campaign.
Commission X concludes that Israel must assassinate those involved in the massacre in the most dramatic ways in order to deter those who intend to commit terrorism in the future. The most important element in the plan was the ability to deny any allegations, leaving no clue as to the connection between the assassinations of Israel.
Another target of the campaign is to suppress the spirit of Palestinian armed groups. "Vengeance is just a minor factor, the main purpose is to terrify the terrorists, we want the enemy to feel that Israeli intelligence is always around, so spies do not shoot them on the street. That is too easy, "said former deputy director Mossad David Kimche.
The first job of Israeli intelligence was to make a list of those involved in the Munich massacre. The Mossad accomplished this task with the help of spies from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), as well as information from European intelligence agencies. Experts say the Mossad targets 20-35 goals, all of whom are members of the Black September and PLO. After completing the list, Israeli intelligence must locate and assassinate these people.
Analysts have not yet agreed on the organization of the forces involved in the assassination campaign. It is likely that the Mossad formed various combat groups, meeting the requirements of each specific mission, in which intelligence officer Michael Harari founded and directed the assassination teams.
At least 15 agents were deployed, divided into five groups named after the Hebrew alphabet. The nose of the campaign is the "Aleph" team of two professional assassins, supported by two gunmen in the "Bet" group. The cover of the team was provided by two members of the "Heth" team, while "Ayin" was a backbone group with six to eight spies who followed the target and planned to escape for the killer team. Finally, "Qoph", composed of two communication specialists.
Assassination
The first assassination took place on October 16, 1972, when Abdel Wael Zwaiter was shot dead in an apartment in Rome, Italy. Zwaiter is the PLO's representative in Italy, but Mossad claims he was a member of Black September, while the PLO said Zwaiter was unrelated to the group and he was fiercely opposed to terrorist acts.
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Police investigate the scene of the assassination of Zwaiter. Photo: Blogspot.
The second target is Dr. Mahmoud Hamshari, PLO representative in France. Two Mossad agents act as reporters to break into Hamshari's house, then install a bomb under the phone desk. On December 8, 1972, they called Hamshari and the bomb exploded as he listened. Hamshari was not killed in the explosion, but died of severe wounds after less than a month.
On the night of January 24, 1973, a bed bomb exploded, killing Hussein Al Bashir in a room in Cyprus. Mossad said Al Bashir was the leader of the Black September group in Cyprus, and had many contacts with the KGB. The assassins returned to Paris on April 6, 1973, with the aim of lecturing on Basil al-Kubaissi, who was suspected of supplying weapons to the Black September group. He also shot 12 rounds, similar to the previous Zwaiter.
Many of the Mossad targets live in a heavily guarded area in Lebanon, unable to be assassinated by conventional methods. Israel launched a campaign called "Youth Spring" to complete the mission. On the night of April 9, 1973, Israeli special forces, including future Prime Minister Ehud Barak, conducted a series of raids on buildings in Beirut and Sidon.
In this campaign, the Israeli Special Forces killed many PLO officials, including Muhammad Youssef al-Najjar, Kamal Adwan and spokesman Kamal Nasser. Rami Adwan, the son of Kamal Adwan, claims that his father was not involved in the massacre of Munich, but rather an activist against Israeli occupation of the West Bank. "The Munich attack is an excuse for Israel to assassinate people," Rami Adwan said.
Mossad made four more assassins, before the campaign was revealed due to a mistaken assassination. Israeli intelligence has mistaken Ali Hassan Salameh, who is thought to be planning a massacre of Munich, with Ahmed Bouchikhi, a Moroccan waiter in Norway.
Mossad has been constantly looking
