After the 1972 Munich massacre, Israel launched a decades-long covert campaign of targeted assassinations.

Cultures · Published 3 October 2026 · Updated 25 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Following the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics, Prime Minister Golda Meir authorized Operation Wrath of God. Mossad agents systematically hunted those they deemed responsible for the attack across Europe and the Middle East, utilizing complex surveillance, bombings, and shootings to strike fear into Palestinian militant groups.

The operation, also known as Operation Bayonet, was directed by a specialized committee led by Prime Minister Golda Meir and Defense Minister Moshe Dayan. Tasked with deterring future violence against Israel, the committee compiled a list of 20 to 35 targets associated with Black September and the Palestine Liberation Organisation. Mossad teams, often operating under the unit name Caesarea or Kidon, executed these missions with the goal of creating plausible deniability and psychological terror, ensuring militants felt constantly pursued.

Tactics varied significantly, ranging from remote-controlled car bombs to precision shootings. In one notable instance, agents used a bomb hidden under a desk telephone to kill Mahmoud Hamshari in Paris. The campaign also included Operation Spring of Youth, a 1973 sub-operation where commandos raided Beirut to target high-ranking PLO officials. However, the operation faced severe setbacks, most notably the 1973 Lillehammer affair, where agents mistakenly killed an innocent waiter, Ahmed Bouchiki, leading to the arrest of six Mossad members and international condemnation.

The hunt for Ali Hassan Salameh, the alleged mastermind of the Munich massacre, spanned years and multiple failed attempts. He was finally killed in Beirut in 1979 by a car bomb that also claimed the lives of four bystanders. While the operation is believed to have lasted over twenty years, its legacy remains complex. Some assassinations attributed to the campaign are contested, with reports suggesting that breakaway Palestinian factions may have been responsible for certain killings. Furthermore, the fate of the three surviving Munich perpetrators remains a subject of conflicting accounts, with claims ranging from natural death to continued survival.

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