Striking Back: The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel's Deadly Response

by Aaron J. Klein

The first full account, based on access to key players who have never before spoken, of the Munich Massacre and the Israeli response–a lethal, top secret, thirty-year-long antiterrorism campaign to track down the killers. 1972. The Munich Olympics. Palestinian members of the Black September group murder eleven Israeli athletes. Nine hundred million people watch the crisis unfold on television, witnessing a tragedy that inaugurates the modern age of terror and remains a scar on the collective conscience of the world. Back in Israel, Prime Minister Golda Meir vows to track down those responsible and, in Menachem Begin’s words, “run these criminals and murderers off the face of the earth.” A secret Mossad unit, code named Caesarea, is mobilized, a list of targets drawn up. Thus begins the Israeli response–a mission that unfolds not over months but over decades. The Mossad has never spoken about this operation. No one has known the real story. Until now. Award-winning journalist Aaron Klein’s incisive and riveting account tells for the first time the full story of Munich and the Israeli counterterrorism operation it spawned. With unprecedented access to Mossad agents and an unparalleled knowledge of Israeli intelligence, Klein peels back the layers of myth and misinformation that have permeated previous books, films, and magazine articles about the “shadow war” against Black September and other terrorist groups. Spycraft, secret diplomacy, and fierce detective work abound in a story with more drama than any fictional thriller. Burning questions are at last answered, including who was killed and who was not, how it was done, which targets were hit and which were missed. Truths are the degree to which the Mossad targeted nonaffiliated Black September terrorists for assassination, the length and full scope of the operation (far greater than previously suspected), retributive acts against Israel, and much more. Finally, Klein shows that the Israeli response to Munich was not simply about revenge, as is popularly believed. By illuminating the tactical and strategic purposes of the Israeli operation, Striking Back allows us to draw profoundly relevant lessons from one of the most important counterterrorism campaigns in history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Israel, Middle East, Politics, Terrorism, Audiobook

256 pages, Hardcover

First published December 20, 2005

Reviews

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shockingly, I grew up unaware of the world at large until President Reagan awakened in me a sleeping Patriotism. In trying to understand the War on Terror, events on the timeline of my life scatter to reveal raw edges of dramas played out across the world’s stage. Striking Back details in dry chronology, the 1972 Munich Olympic Massacre and Israel’s developing response to terror. I was 11 at the time and remember faintly that something had gone wrong at the Olympics. I was totally ignorant, knew nothing of Israel or the Palestinian conflicts which gave birth to terror as we know it today. In my recent Delta Force readings, events of this period developed training exercises for the anti-terror units of today’s United States Military. As a Nation, we were slow to grasp the coming terror war, and slower still as a general public to envision the greater historical background and implications of today’s battle. Like my children, I am homeschooled. The world is my classroom.

On Israel’s response to threats,
I find this documentary fascinating:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?doc...

“Revenge is a dish best served cold"
Khan, Star Trek ll: The Wrath of Khan

https://www.cia.gov/library/publicati...

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction to the 1972 Munich Massacre and Israel's response. A lot of this was covered in Spielberg's Munich, though what that movie failed to make explicit is that the retaliation Israel undertook was not against the actual perpetrators of the Munich Massacre, but towards low-level Black September operatives who had tangential ties to the PLO and Fatah. These targets really meant nothing in the wider scheme of things, other than those killed in the infamous Spring of Youth strike in the heart of Beirut (where Arafat was only 200 yards away from where the Mossad struck). Fascinating stuff and a good, brisk introduction.

[Jirka Hiemer · Rating 5 out of 5]

To zasadni jsem popsal uz behem cteni. Za me je tohle nova srdcovka a vyborny darek k Vanocum, ktery jsem dostal :)

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riveting reading. Learn about the planning, attack and kidnapping of Israeli athletes on September 4, 1972 at the Munich Olympics and the ensuing decades-long hunt for retribution by the Israeli Mossad. I was a young woman when the Olympic Massacre occurred and have always been haunted by it. I listened to the audible; it was excellent. I would recommend getting the book or ebook as well. It was challenging to keep up with the names of the Palestinians who often changed their names to protect themselves from the Mossad. I learned so much from the book, and my heart still goes out to the wives and children of all the dead.

[Melindam · Rating 4 out of 5]

RTC

Currently included in the Audible+ catalogue.

[Scott Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading about Mossad and enjoyed this book I just wish the author was able to share more details in these missions. I understand for the future it is not in the best interest of Mossad to share these details but would be fascinating.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me, the most interesting thing about the book was the first quarter of it, which details the actual events leading up to and including the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics by the Palestinian terror organization Black September. The rest of the book is dedicated to describing various assassination plots by the Mossad (successful and unsuccessful) intended as both revenge and deterrent. (The difference between the actual assassinations and those depicted in Stephen Spielberg's film Munich is astounding.)

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the Munich massacre is the severe incompetence of the German authorities during the hostage crisis and leading up to the massacre, and even in the years after the massacre. They refused to admit any wrongdoing whatsoever. The incompetence is described using numerous examples.

Stefan Rudnicki's gravelly, overly serious narration is certainly adequate enough, although sometimes it sounds as though he's got cotton balls in his mouth.

If you particularly enjoy police procedurals, this book has enough detail to keep you interested for a while.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting behind-the-scenes look at operations by the Mossad, Israeli intelligence service after the massacre of Israel's Olympic athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics. It follows the activities as they search for and assassinate each and every one involved in plotting and carrying out the attack. As any of them were located over many years, their case was presented to top Israeli officials for approval and then action was taken. Most of the detailed information about these actions was buried in archives for decades until very recently and those contents plus numerous interviews allowed the author to piece together how each was planned and carried out. This book would be of interest for anyone interested in middle east, terrorism, Palestinian Israeli relations, and secret government programs.

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Striking Back" provides a good background on the Israeli - Palestinian conflict which endures to this day. The book centers on the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre of the Israeli olympic team, and details a number of security failings of the Munich authorities which allowed the events to unfold as they did. Klein then tells the story of Israel's policy of preventive assassinations of the leaders of the Black September terrorists wing, using archived files of Israel's security forces. Unfortunately, you also get a sense of the endless cycle of attack and revenge on both sides, with a peaceful solution apparently still many generations away.

[Dee Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audible sale (#27 of 40) 7 hours 39 min. Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki (A)

Vague memories of the kidnapping and murder of eleven men representing Israel in the 1972 Olympics held in Germany still haunt me. Details of what happened and how this turned into a propaganda war that Germany once again tried to deny made this an intriguing read. It was such a tragic episode in the history of the Olympics and even sadder for the parents, widows, and orphans left behind, wondering how it had happened. Twenty years later, families were no closer to learning the truth about what happened to their sons, husband's, and fathers because of the stonewalling of Germany's government. Israel and PM Golda Meir's government was held up to scrutiny also. How and why didn't these athletes not receive protection by their own government? What happened to those members of the terrorist cell that pulled off this surprise attack? These questions and many other valid ones are answered in this book, published in 2005. This was well-written and well- researched, including interviews with sources inside Mossad and the PLO.
3.5 stars

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It hard to believe that this happened nearly 50 years ago and that the face and strategies of terrorism has not changed that much overall. Hostage taking in exchange for political prisoners still happens although demanding ransom seems to be more common. Bombs as well as executing innocents or victims determined by their nationality, religion or gender.

But in this case, it is sad and quite a bit infuriating to read of now only how the German and Bavarian government was more concerned with trying to wash away the stain of Nazism than providing security to the athletes from around the world. Their attempts to resolve the hostage situation as well as the attempts to take down the terrorists as they made their way from helicopters (that took them from the Olympic village to the airport) was simply a fiasco. The police snipers were barely familiar with firearms much less accurate enough to take down their targets. Armored vehicles that could have protected military and police were not even called until minutes before the helicopters landed and then they were caught in traffic.

The response of Israel may seem over the top for today's point of view as they vowed vengeance on every single member of Black September that participated as well as several other leaders and architects of attacks. But several of the assassinations - and that is the correct word - were what Klein refers to as 'soft targets'. Not necessarily targeted due to their crimes or prospective future actions but because they were easily found and predictable in movement patterns. These executions were to send a message to the others and the message was received as the higher ups travelled with much more care and discretion - if at all. In the end, the Mossad unit that focused on avenging Munich was able to cross off the last photo on the collage of targets.

Black September basically collapsed and disappeared but other groups have taken their place. And they now use politics and the public stage. But it is quite enlightening to see what was likely the beginning of many national anti-terrorism groups although not as passionate as the Mossad was in this situation.

2021-191

[Jared · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 of 5 stars

"From the blood-drenched history of the Jewish nation, we learn that violence which begins with the murder of Jews, ends with the spread of violence and danger to all people, in all nations.” - Israeli PM Golda Meir

'Striking Back' is a book that had been on my to-read list for close to a year. I am always interested in books about how Israel goes about settling debts with terrorists. It seems, unfortunately, that the terrorism business was booming in the early 1970s. From bombings to highjacking vessels to taking hostages, this was a very dark time.

This particular book centers around the kidnapping and ultimate demise of Israeli hostages at the 1972 Munich Olympics. If you have seen the movie 'Munich', you are likely familiar with the story and how Israel used the Mossad to find those responsible for Munich (and some other targets of opportunity along the way) and made them pay dearly.

In all, there are some significant lessons to be learned by governments if they choose to go about assassinating people. It seems like a straight forward way of dealing with unsavory people but there are some significant political and moral trade-offs. There are some concerns when this takes the place of policy and diplomacy in seemingly intractable situations.

I believe that there are perhaps better-written books about Munich and the Operation 'Wrath of God', but this one was a pretty good read.
If you are interested in the topic, there is a book by George Jonas called 'Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team'.
In addition, there are some good films/documentaries, such as: 'One Day in September' or as mentioned, the movie 'Munich' by Steven Spielberg.


'Munich' (2005) trailer:
http://youtu.be/vWQyjc1QvGU


Below are some of the take-aways that I gathered while reading:

- "Three different, but often intertwined, factors come into play when a state decides to carry out an assassination—prevention, deterrence, and revenge."
-
- "Usually, “revenge” is not spoken of openly. Different, softer words are used, words that people can live with; phrases like “closing the circle.”
-
- "The failure of the Sabena hijacking increased the resolve of Black September’s leadership. They were determined to pull off an unprecedented, earthshaking attack...They chose the Munich Olympics, to be held in August and September of 1972, as their grand stage."

GOALS OF THE BLACK SEPTEMBER TERRORISTS
- 1. "One was “to present the existence of the Palestinian People to the whole world, whether they like it or not.”
-
- 2. Another was “to secure the release of 200 Palestinian fighters locked in Israeli jails.”
-
- 3. And the third, in a neat encapsulation of the rationale of all terrorists, was this: “to use the unprecedented number of media outlets in one city to display the Palestinian struggle—for better or worse!”

SECURITY LAPSES AT MUNICH
- "Lalkin wasn’t satisfied. He asked whether the Israeli athletes could be moved to a more secure building, with higher floors, where the entrances could be properly supervised. “Sir,” Ruprecht responded, “I don’t think it’s any of your business. All our decisions concerning your delegation’s living quarters have been coordinated with your embassy’s security people and the Israeli Olympic Committee. Our decisions were made together.”
-
- "the Kopel Report, the three-member committee found that several Israeli officials had been given the opportunity to choose the location of the team’s dorms, perhaps in an area easily supervised or on one of the top floors, but hadn’t done so. Not one Israeli official, and many were contacted, asked to change the Israeli location in the village."
-
- "From the outset, the Germans emphasized the Olympic message of world peace. They didn’t want the world to see them holding guns, which might evoke old images. No armed guards or police were positioned in the Olympic Village or at stadium entrances. Instead, two thousand Olys, ushers in sky-blue uniforms, were given the twin duties of perimeter security and traffic control."
-
- "Security costs for the Games came to $ 2 million. The relatively insignificant sum was not born of miserliness, but of a frank desire to keep security to a minimum. For subsequent Olympics, security costs rose exponentially, peaking in 2004 at $ 1 billion."

NOT ABLE TO IMAGINE THE UNIMAGINABLE
- "Their failure went far beyond ignoring the security flaws in the Olympic Village. The deeper, more basic failure was rooted in a lack of interest, a downright disregard for a rapidly escalating situation."
-
- "The Mossad was caught off guard by the scope of Black September’s ambition. Up until May 1972 all the group’s operations were aimed at Jordanian targets."

INCOMPETENCE/SET-BACKS DURING THE HOSTAGE SITUATION
- "Throughout the (German) hostage crisis the negotiating team showed their ignorance of the goals of ideological terrorists. Schreiber offered Issa “an unlimited amount of money” in exchange for the Israeli hostages."
-
- "They didn’t realize that the Federal Republic of Germany lacked an anti-terror unit, and that, even had such a unit existed, it would not have been able to act in Munich. No one in Israel thought to check these facts."
-
- ("Weeks after the crisis, the federal government chose Wagner to establish and command the GSG-9 anti-terror unit—an outright result of that naïveté.")

* "Sayeret Matkal and the Yamam, Israel’s two leading counterterror units, assisted the West German government in establishing the German GSG-9 counterterror unit, under the command of General Ulrich Wagner."
-
- "Israeli officials were unaware that the German constitution did not give the federal government authority to move so much as one soldier into the Bavarian state. Constitutionally, all matters concerning the resolution of the developing international crisis were in the hands of the Bavarians, sole sovereigns of the Olympic Village."
-
- "Schreiber and his men thought they were facing five terrorists—which is partly why, four hours later, their rescue mission would fail so abysmally."
-
- "The policemen, under the command of Reinhold Reich, had aborted their mission while the helicopters were in the air, fifteen minutes before the terrorists and hostages landed at Fürstenfeldbruck...But the timing of their decision to abort—while the helicopters were in the air—remains manifestly unacceptable."
-
- "Issa and Tony boarded the plane. It was cold, dark, and empty. The aircraft did not seem travel-ready, though, as the West German officials had promised it would be. The two terrorists quickly reversed course, moving back toward the helicopters in front of the office building."
-
- "The official refused, telling them that he had decided to wait for the armored police vehicles. When they arrived, he explained, their forces would approach under the cover of armor. Once again, negligence was the order of the day. The armored vehicles should have been ordered to leave the Olympic Village hours before, but that order was never issued."
-
- "They waited until all the terrorists had been caught before putting out the flames with foam. David Berger’s life was lost as a result...David Berger, an autopsy revealed, died from smoke inhalation."

LOOKING BACK, MORE MISTAKES UNCOVERED
- "The squad in the field had five hours to prepare for the mission, which is an eon in a hostage situation."
-
- "The mission was ideally staged—in a military airport, with no civilians nearby."
-
- "The colossal failure of the marksmen is particularly inexcusable.
-
* "These so-called marksmen were given G3 and FN rifles, which are far from tactical-level precision weapons."
*
* "They were on duty from the early morning. At 2240 hours, some of them had been on their feet for fourteen to fifteen hours, which robbed them of the inner calm necessary to function as a sharpshooter in the tense, potentially chaotic storm of a hostage liberation mission."
*
- "Another element of the negligence and amateurishness of the operation was rooted in the lighting setup."
-
- "The police gunmen were unprotected. They had no helmets and no bulletproof vests."
-
- "But the worst sin of all was in the communication between forces."

LACK OF INTEL
- "How did we not learn of the plan? How did we so utterly fail to pick up a single bit of intelligence about this attack, which must have required a considerable time to plan, and certainly included a few dozen people?"
-
- "It was already clear that no one in the Israeli intelligence community had so much as one quality HUMINT source in Black September or the group surrounding Abu-Iyad or Ali Hassan Salameh at the upper echelons of Fatah."
-
- "In terms of intelligence gathering, it meant starting from scratch, from the foundations. We didn’t have hard, dependable facts. The massacre came as a complete shock; it knocked us off our feet and forced us to act under immense pressure.”

PERIOD OF PAYBACK BEGINS
- "...on Friday, September 8, on the eve of the Jewish New Year, two dozen fighter jets from the Ramat David base in northern Israel struck deep in Lebanese and Syrian territory. It was the IDF’s most devastating attack in two years..."
-
- "these missions were, cabinet ministers and IDF brass knew it was not nearly enough to placate Israeli public opinion: the nation demanded a more significant form of retribution."
-
- "The Talmudic imperative to “rise and slay the one who comes to kill you” needed to be fulfilled to the letter of the law. A new Israeli response was needed, one that would imprint itself on the minds of conspirators everywhere, and be remembered by the free world."

IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND YOUR ADVERSARY
- "We needed more than a newspaper headline. What we wanted was to be exposed to a variety of voices and views. We knew their intentions but we needed to understand the hues and shades of their thought.”

NO WHERE TO HIDE
- "We have no choice,” she said, “but to strike at terrorist organizations wherever we can reach them. That is our obligation to ourselves and to peace. We shall fulfill that obligation undauntedly.” - Israeli PM Golda Meir
-
- "Israel had assassinated its enemies before, but now assassination would become a major tool in counterterrorism."

PROCESS
- "Before Munich, each intelligence agency operated on its own, in virtual isolation. Now heads of divisions, units, and wings understood that egos and institutional rivalries had to be cast aside in favor of interagency cooperation."
-
- "While the Palestinian resistance groups used homesickness and patriotism as their lures, the Mossad baited with cash."
-
- "Spring of Youth (raid into Beirut) made a searing impression in the Arab world, a combination of anger, embarrassment, and awe. In Lebanon, the government collapsed in the aftermath of the attack.
-
* Dress up like women if that's what it takes!... "Lebanese newspapers published eyewitness accounts of two beautiful women—one a blonde, one a brunette—fighting like armed dervishes in the streets of Beirut, keeping police, army, and Palestinian operatives at bay with long bursts of automatic fire."
- Poison-covered chocolate anyone?... "Dr. Haddad had a weak point: his sweet tooth. The man loved good chocolate, Belgian chocolate, particularly; Tzomet, the human intelligence collection arm of the Mossad, was keen to capitalize on that weakness."

A LITTLE BIT OFF COURSE
- "The fervor to avenge the death of the athletes began to subside. A thirst for preventive and deterrent assassinations was replacing it. Many of the organization heads and PLO activists who were being targeted now had no connection to Munich or Fatah–Black September."
-
- "But their success was going to their heads, a dangerous overconfidence that would lead to tragedy...Caesarea’s assassination team had trailed and murdered the wrong man."

WAS IT WORTH IT?
- "At the end of the 1970s, top-ranking Israeli intelligence officials were in near unanimous agreement that Israel’s post-Munich wave of retaliatory and preventive assassinations gravely affected terrorist organizations, causing some to fold and others to limp."

[Benjamin Farr · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible investigative look at Israel's response to the ongoing threat of Palestinian terrorism from the Munich Olympic Massacre onwards.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look at Israels' response to the terrorist attack at the 1972 Olympic games. First, the author gives a detailed account of the events in Munich. His description of the attempt to rescue the hostages at the airport, puts the blame squarely on the Bavarian authorities. It is sad how poorly the operation was planned and executed. This is contrasted with the job the Israeli counter-terrorist unit did in rescuing hostages from an El Al flight.

This book describes the extraordinary work done by the Mossad to hunt down and assassinate various terrorist suspects. He describes the myth of the Mossad, that was created by operations such as the incredible Spring of Youth operation in 1973 where they assassinated three PLO leaders in one night inside their apartments in Beirut. The myth was that the Mossad had the ability to assassinate anyone, at any time, anywhere in the world. The fact that this is a myth was illustrated by the incident in Lillehammer, Norway where the Mossad mistakenly killed an innocent Moroccan man who they mistook for the terrorist Ali Hassan Salameh.

[Linda Appelbaum · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be completely compelling and fascinating. It was astonishing to learn so many things could have prevented the massacre from happening - better security, someone who at least would listen to a warning about the athletes being place on the ground floor. Other little things made me wonder how things like this happen when it seems so obvious that precautions that should have been taken weren't. The book gives a peek into intelligence and counter-intelligence, the Mosad, the workings of the Israeli government. One thing I learned, violence begets violence and it just goes on and on. I particularly liked the story of the guy who was killed with poisioned chocolates! Read this and decide for yourself - does revenge pay?

[Brenton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the story of the horrific massacre of Israeli athletes in the 1972 Munich Olympics, and of Germany’s incompetence in dealing with terrorist activities at that time. Secondly, it tells the story of the Israeli response to terrorism around the globe since that time and especially the work of the Mossad. Israel has taken a strongly preventative and retaliatory response to terrorism, assassinating suspected terrorists before they strike, and "closing the circle" on the terrorists responsible for the Munich massacre. The book raises several ethical questions concerning a nation's means and jurisdiction when dealing with threats to its security in a global environment.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been fascinated by the history behind the rise of extremism/terrorism, and its coming to fruition with Black September. What a lot of people may not know, and what this book helps put in perspective is that Palestinian terrorist groups were more secular and nationalistic, then fundamentalist and based in Islam. There is a line in the film adaptation based on the Mossad counterterrorism unit; "Home is everything." I really think that strikes a chord with all groups laying claim to the land of Palestine and the nation of Israel. Still unresolved, and still misunderstood on all levels.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating, in-depth behind the scenes look at the Munich Olympics massacrea and the many years of plotted and accomplishing revenge assassiations by Israel's Mossad. The at times casual application of lethal shooting and explosives - with some collateral damage - comes across as irresponsible to do inthe apartments and streets of Europeans cities, etc.

There is also fascinating details on methods and misfires in this well-researched book.

Good narration.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read several other books about the Munich massacre and Black September, but this book lends a different perspective about Israel's handling of both the security at the Olympics and its institutionalized assassinations. The author states that the book won't conclude whether or not these hits were just, but in presenting information that had been locked away in Israeli safes until 2005, he sheds new light on the massacre and its repercussions.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remarkably balanced book : while pointing out many of the Palestinian atrocities it doesn't sugarcoat the Israeli response either. I vividly remember watching the Munich Olympics as a 16yo and transfixed by the massacre, but recall little detail of Mossad's response ... certainly until the much feted movie 'Munich' was released. The writing doesn't have a tendency to jump around a bit and can be arguably repetitive, but that in many ways is a blessing as the Arabic names can be confusing.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

After being wowed by the movie, Munich, I found this book and really loved it. It is one of those where you are there. Anything Mossad grabs my attention and this book does it anyway on its own merit.

[Rosanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first part of this book due to the clear explanation of why the crime was committed. I became confused in the second half due to my lack of knowledge of the parties involved in the Isreal/Arab conflicts.

[Del · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great story of how the Israelis went after the people responsible for the slaughter of their athletes in Munich. An exciting story of revenge and vengeance. I enjoyed it a lot.

Listened to the unabridged audiobook on Audible.com.

[Jon Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book on the inner workings of the Mossad. What does Israel do when confronted with terror? I would not want to cross them!

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am reviewing the audiobook of this rather intriguing story. In 1972 while the Olympics Game was going on in West Germany a Palestinian terrorist group known as Black September kidnapped and eventually killed all the Israeli athletes they were held hostage. The world learned about what happened in horror. This book is about that tragic event and also Israel’s response to the incident. The book will hold the listeners’ and readers’ attention.

The author did a really good job describing what happened in Munich. The sloppiness of security officials before the terrorist attack was inexcusable: Despite Israelis telling German police and Olympic officials about the need for simple security measures such as moving Israeli Olympic athletes away from the first floor to another level and having uniformed police presence controlling people’s access going in and out of the Olympic village these suggestions were ignored and unwelcomed. One feels quite helpless learning of how incompetent German and Bavarian authorities were during the actual terrorist incident: There were bureaucratic red tape, lack of professionalism, coordination and plan among German law enforcement. To add insult to injury despite the sensitivity of what was going on the Olympic Games continued on as if nothing has happened while innocent Jewish blood was being spilled yet once again in German soil. What made me really mad is learning how later German officials would release the surviving terrorists involved with the Munich massacre.

With this background it allows the readers and listeners in understanding Israel’s predicament and their decision on seeking a military and covert response. The details in the book of other terrorist acts by Black September both before and after Munich makes readers and listeners realize just how fluid 1972 was for those who were Jewish or Israeli living in Europe at that time.

Which makes Israel’s covert action even more incredible. Here there are cloak and dagger stories. Yet at the same time the author is honest about the shortcoming of Israeli intelligence and covert operations. The author discussed the targeting of Palestinians whom later turned out to have not been Black September operatives and even in one case a mistaken identity of a totally innocent man.

Of all the stories and missions in the book the most incredible has got to be “Operation Spring of Youth.” This is the 1973 missions in which Israeli commandos infiltrated into Beruit Lebanon to eliminate PLO leaders. One of the famous stories to come out from that raid is how the leader of the raid Ehud Barak dressed as a woman and of course Barak went on to become one of the Prime Minister of Israel. Operation Spring of Youth would undoubtedly fuel the myth among Israel’s enemy of Israeli capability of targeting her enemies abroad.

Overall a good work that is worth listening and/or reading to. I think the author should also be given credit for his research and also for being more balance than sensational or one-sided.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I still have mixed feelings about these decapitation strikes. On one hand, there is the obvious violation of international law, of its extra-judicial nature. If glorified and supported, it will lead to a law of the jungle. On the other hand, it is an ongoing covert war where survival hinges on violence. It is better to be accused of war crime than to die.

This book details the Israeli response to the murder of 11 athletes in the 1972 Munich Olympiad. Plenty of books and movies have been dedicated on this (my first exposure have been the Spielberg 2005 movie), and this book adds a little with regards to the operation. However, it does detail some interesting postscript, such as the fact that several high-ranking PLO/Black September survived the strikes of the 1970-80s, chief among which are Abu Iyad, who famously became dovish by becoming one of the first Palestinians who declared his willingness to accept a two state deal (Gaza and West Bank, and even less) if it were offered. Unfortunately, he was murdered by Palestinian radical group Abu Nidal. This book also revises the idea that Mossad operations are perfect hits. Even with its legendary status, this book shows that they hardly have enough intelligence on some of the hits, and the people that they killed in the early 1970s are all mainly due to convenience/ease of elimination instead of their high-involvement in the Black September. Goes to show the challenges of gaining and acting on intelligence. Even Mossad have a lot of difficulties in executing their operation.

At the end of the day, the question that this book brings about is, are killings effective? With the string of high-profile assassinations that the Israelis carried out during the 2023-25 war, it clearly shows that it has PR and deterrence value, although it often does little more than adding fuel of hate into the cauldron of conflict. At the end of the day, Mossad is perhaps successful at reducing Palestinian terrorism in the aftermath of Munich, because Palestinian organizations spent more time in protecting themselves and lost striking capacities, however one arrives at the disturbing conclusion that terrorism often pays, as shown by the acts of plane hijackings in late 60s and early 70s which brought the issue of Palestinian struggle for nationhood in the world stage, and also Sinwar's 7th October attack which brought unprecedented awareness of the Palestinian question worldwide. Given that killings and terrorism both pays, that is the sad truth of the Middle East conflict which shows no sign of dying down.

[Max Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A riveting account of the Munich Olympic Massacre of 1972 and the counter-terrorism campaign that framed Israel’s response. What we learn from the massacre at the Munich Olympics is this: someone can commit a terror attack, and it will probably be successful, but if it involves Israeli citizens, it will be that terrorist’s own death sentence. The mission to take out the perpetrators was motivated by three things: (1) prevention of future and in-the-making terrorist attacks, (2) deterrence of future terrorists, and (3) revenge for the massacre. The book opens with a thorough description of the terrorists’ motivations and thought processes along with the training and preparation they underwent. Great detail is given to the massacre as it unfolded and the key players involved. The subsequent chapters depict various missions to eliminate anyone loosely connected to the terror attack and their leaders.

I thought it was important that the author explained the horrors of the slaughter so extensively to set the backdrop for Israel’s assassination missions. You have to understand the chapters on the massacre before you can understand the Israeli response. The short, snappy chapters provide solid background to the players involved such as the Israeli athletes, Black September members, other terrorists, and Israeli intelligence. And the times and locations given at the beginning of each chapter were a nice touch. My only issue is with the author’s somewhat undue criticisms of the Israeli government in his epilogue, however I do find it disappointing that not everyone involved in the terror attack was eliminated and that the Israeli government never did take responsibility for the failures that might could have prevented the scale of the massacre.

Some have asked “does terrorism work?” The answer seems to be a resounding yes. But a harsh response to the perpetrators is the only effective deterrent, and that’s what happened following the Munich Olympic Massacre. And on many levels, the antiterrorism campaign worked. It showed the world that Israel can strike anywhere to avenge acts of terror. It showed everyone that the Jews—not the US, not, as in this case, Germany, certainly not the UN, but the Jews—can and will protect themselves. And it showed that Jewish blood is not cheap. This method was then, and continues to be, a prevention and deterrence for terrorism against the state of Israel.

[Nate Hendrix · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have seen documentaries and read as least one other book about this tragedy. This one goes into amazing detail about the massacre and Israel's response. Israel's history of extrajudicial killings is covered completely in Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's targeted Assassinations by Ronen Bergman. Part of me admires Israel's take no shit attitude, but their continued hunting and killing of people they suspect of being terrorists just prolongs the violence. Terrorists kill Israelis, the Israeli government then kills those that are deemed responsible. Innocents are usually included in the death toll and some group swears revenge. A never ending circle. The Israeli attitude is understandable when you look at the way the West German government reacted after the tragedy of 1972 and the way European governments treated terrorists in their control in the years following.
I was surprised to find that I recognised names from another book that I had read, The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames by Kai Bird. Many of the same players and both books share locations.

[Joshua Starr · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a thrilling read, as the real-life details surrounding terrorist attacks, assassination missions, etc., are the type of thing we think only happens in movies. However, it's hard to get invested in this one as someone who's anti-violence. Murdering innocent athletes at the Olympics is despicable and is no way to get anyone to support your cause, but there were similar killings orchestrated by Israel that resulted in entirely innocent lives being lost. More than anything, it seems like this region of the world just loves violence and death despite being so religious. Even prior Palestinian terrorists who eased up on their violent views and began to seek diplomacy over war were killed by their own countrymen for "being too moderate." It's interesting history, to be sure, but overall, the entire book is tragic.

[J. M. Simmonds · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this on audiobook. Took me a while. A lot of names to remember.

As a writer who is currently writing a fiction novel about Mossad I found this really interesting. Some facts that I didn't know about the Mossad had me rethinking some of my plot.

As a work of non-fiction, it dispels the Mossad Myth. The authors research revealed that the Mossad were not as effective as I had always been lead to believe. That doesn't take away anything from them. It just makes them out to be exactly the same the CIA and MI6 in terms of failures of a completely human intelligence organisation.

I enjoyed the listen, the disappointments didn't outweigh the interesting story that was woven throughout this book. It goes to show that after 50 years Israel can be lulled into a false sense of security now as then.