Israelis Hunted Plo To Avenge Munich -- Meir Aide Confirms Assassination Plan

JERUSALEM - Israel methodically hunted and assassinated PLO leaders responsible for killing 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, a former intelligence official has confirmed.

This marks the first time Israeli officials have admitted authorizing the assassination of senior PLO leaders involved in attacks on Jewish targets.

The disclosure has provoked an outcry from members of the military-security establishment, who say it will give ammunition to the country's enemies.

Many of the killings took place in the 1970s, following the massacre of the Israeli athletes by the PLO's Black September faction.

Retired Maj. Gen. Aharon Yariv, who served in Prime Minister Golda Meir's government between 1969 and 1974 as adviser on terrorism, said in a state-controlled Israeli television broadcast last night: "The decision regarding the eliminations had no geographical limits; rather, they were carried out on the basis of capability and importance of targets.

"The most significant assassination was that of Mahmoud Hamshari in Paris. We killed between 10 to 15 terrorists, and this had a tremendous impact because they were high-ranking and held sensitive positions. Suddenly they felt insecure even in their own homes."

Yariv said that each assassination was personally approved by Meir.

He admitted that the Israeli hit teams made a mistake by killing an innocent Moroccan waiter in the Norwegian town of Lillehammer. The victim was mistaken for Ali Hasan Salameh, known in PLO circles as the "Red Prince," who the Israelis believed had masterminded the massacre of the athletes.

"The assassination created a dilemma for Golda because, as far as she was concerned, premeditated killing was not a simple issue. On the other hand, there was no other way of crushing terror.

"This was not only revenge for Munich; the idea was to eliminate terror because we could not continue to live with it.

"It was not easy for us because foreign governments did not like two adversaries battling out their differences on the streets of their cities. I recommended that we continue with the assassinations, and it was a tough struggle, but it's a fact that they stopped the terror."

Yariv's interview was conducted a year ago but was approved by the Israeli censor only yesterday. The occasion of the interview was the 20th anniversary of the Munich tragedy and the 15th anniversary of Meir's death.

Yariv's disclosures drew fire from military and security experts.

Meir Amit, former head of the Israeli secret service, Mossad, said, "I don't like this at all. I don't know why he (Yariv) decided to say these things. It's both unnecessary and unhealthy."

Eliyahu Ben Elissar, a former Mossad agent and now a member of parliament, defended Meir's decision but also attacked Yariv's television confession.

"I have no doubt that this is an effective tool, as we have learned from the decline in the number of attacks on Israeli targets," Elissar said. "It is also a completely moral act; he who rises to kill you, kill him first. I was surprised by the interview and I was more shocked by the details revealed by Yariv. This is an unprecedented scandal."

The government in the past has refused to confirm or deny responsibility for the 1988 assassination of Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat's deputy, Abu Jihad, who was shot dead in his Tunis villa by a squad of Israeli commandos.

Israel also chooses to remain silent about the murder of Yehiya El Meshed, an Egyptian nuclear expert working for the Iraqis who was found dead in the bedroom of his Paris hotel in June 1980.