'Wrath of God' spy dead
September 22, 2014
The secret agent Mike Harari has died. He was 87.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement Monday calling Harari "one of the great warriors for Israel's security."
Harari was also involved in planning Israel's rescue of hostages held by militants at Entebbe international airport in Uganda in 1976, but he was best known for his part in planning Mossad's missions in the aftermath of the massacre at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
The militants first killed two Israeli athletes at the Olympic village in the southern German city, then took others hostage as they fled. Nine of the hostages were later killed in a gun battle with German police.
Operation Wrath of God, a string of targeted international assassinations against Palestinian militants from the Black September group, was the most controversial of Harari's operations.
Wrong man hunted down
In 1973 Harari led a team of agents into Norway where they believed Black September leader Ali Hassan Salameh was living, but mistakenly killed an innocent waiter, Ahmed Bouchiki. Salameh was eventually assassinated in 1979 in Beirut.
On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon paid tribute to the former Mossad agent, who died at his Tel Aviv home late on Sunday.
Yaalon said he was "a rare, revolutionary, brave, daring and creative man of missions."
"Most of Mike's activity for the sake of Israel's security as a fighter and commander in the Mossad isn't known and will never be known," Yaalon said.
crh/mkg (dpa, AP)