Israeli Response to the Munich Massacre
Agents from Mossad, Israeli’s Intelligence Agency, have tried to claim they only targeted Palestinians directly connected with the 1972 massacre, however, many of the Palestinians shot or blown to pieces during the covert operation, "Wrath of God", do not appear to have a direct connection with the Olympic attack. Assassination was not a regular Israeli tactic until after the Munich massacre. Occasionally Israeli agents would send letter bombs to scientists developing rockets for enemy states, but it was Golda Meir who set a precedent for wholesale use of murder as a counterterrorism policy by authorizing an assassination campaign in the aftermath of the Munich massacre. Since then, assassination has been used to kill scores of terrorists and senior militants, including many of those responsible for major bomb attacks in Israel. In the absence of political solutions, the Israeli government and people have come to rely on targeted killings as their standard response to terrorists.
The Israeli government was both shocked and appalled that only a few decades after the Holocaust, Jews were again being murdered on German soil. Their retribution was swift and harsh. Israeli warplanes bombed Palestinian "military bases", which ended up killing both militants, as well as innocent civilians and children. In response to this, hundreds of Palestinians joined radical militant groups in retaliation again Israel.
Germany released the three Black September terrorists who had survived the Munich massacre after what Israel’s Prime Minister, Golda Meir, believed to be a fabricated plane hijacking. In response to this, the Israeli government launched a secret operation known as "Wrath of God", whose primary purpose was to hunt and kill those responsible for the Munich massacre. Many Palestinians were eliminated in the following months by means of small explosive devices, bombings, hand grenades and sniper fire. The Israeli government launched its most daring operation in which an elite squad of soldiers was sent into Beirut to kill three senior Palestinians. This campaign lasted over 20 years during which time Israeli agents killed dozens of Palestinians including two of the three terrorist survivors of Munich.
Germany released the three Black September terrorists who had survived the Munich massacre after what Israel’s Prime Minister, Golda Meir, believed to be a fabricated plane hijacking. In response to this, the Israeli government launched a secret operation known as "Wrath of God", whose primary purpose was to hunt and kill those responsible for the Munich massacre. Many Palestinians were eliminated in the following months by means of small explosive devices, bombings, hand grenades and sniper fire. The Israeli government launched its most daring operation in which an elite squad of soldiers was sent into Beirut to kill three senior Palestinians. This campaign lasted over 20 years during which time Israeli agents killed dozens of Palestinians including two of the three terrorist survivors of Munich.