NCJ Number
62150
Date Published
1976
Length
240 pages
Annotation
AN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER DESCRIBES THE SECRET WAR WAGED BETWEEN ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE AND ARAB TERRORISTS FOLLOWING THE MURDER OF ISRAELI ATHLETES AT THE MUNICH OLYMPICS.
Abstract
THE NARRATIVE BEGINS WITH A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE MUNICH ASSASSINATIONS BY THE BLACK SEPTEMBER TERRORISTS IN SEPTEMBER 1972. THE ORIGINS, LEADERS, AND TACTICS OF THE BLACK SEPTEMBER MOVEMENT ARE DISCUSSED. ACCORDING TO THE ACCOUNT, SHORTLY AFTER THE MUNICH ATTACK ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE BEGAN TO ORGANIZE A HIT TEAM OPERATION TO ASSASSINATE ARAB TERRORISTS WHO THEY FELT WERE RESPONSIBLE. BY MID 1973 THE ISRAELIS HAD KILLED MOST OF THE ARABS WHO WERE ON THEIR WANTED LIST, ALTHOUGH MANY ISRAELIS ALSO HAD BEEN LOST TO RETALIATORY ATTACKS BY BLACK SEPTEMBER. A FINAL CONFRONTATION TOOK PLACE IN LILLEHAMMER, NORWAY, IN JULY 1973 WHEN THE ISRAELIS HAD LOCATED ONE OF THE MOST ELUSIVE AND IMPORTANT BLACK SEPTEMBER LEADERS. ISRAELI AGENTS KILLED A MAN THEY BELIEVED TO BE THEIR TARGET, BUT WERE CAUGHT BY THE NORWEGIAN POLICE. THEN IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THEY HAD ASSASSINATED THE WRONG MAN. REASONS FOR THE OPERATION'S FAILURE ARE ANALYZED, AS WELL AS THE INFLUENCES OF CONCURRENT EVENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE REACTIONS OF ISRAELI OFFICIALS. INFORMATION IN THE BOOK WAS BASED ON INTERVIEWS, PUBLIC RECORDS, NEWSPAPER ACCOUNTS, AND CONFIDENTIAL SOURCES. A LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL PARTICIPANTS IS GIVEN, ALONG WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR LIVES FOLLOWING THE LILLEHAMMER OPERATION. (MJM)