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How the Mossad Foiled a Missile Attack on an El Al Plane in Rome

(Ha'aretz) Interview with Former Mossad Head Zvi Zamir - "After Munich, we received information about an intention by terrorists to down an El Al plane lifting off from Fiumicino Airport in Rome using Strella missiles. We identified the terrorists' arrival in Italy and, with many difficulties, kept them under surveillance. They entered an apartment building that overlooked the runway. When I saw the location I immediately ordered the plane's takeoff - it was on the way to New York - to be delayed." "I was with a team of six or eight who managed the operation. The problem was that it was a building of 50 or 100 apartments and we did not know which apartment the terrorists were in. I decided that the Italian security service had to be informed immediately. I called the head of intelligence, a Sicilian general whom I knew and was friendly with....I asked only one favor of him: that if Strella missiles were found in the apartment, to let me have one....He agreed and informed the security service, who sent men to the apartment immediately. They found one Arab there and Strella missiles wrapped in packages. The others, another four or five people, were in a nearby cafe, and our people, who were following them, informed the Italians, who arrested them." "The Italian general thanked me, even though he didn't really like us operating in Italy, and promised that if their guilt would be proved in court, they would rot in jail for many years. But what happened was that a few months later the Palestinians hijacked a plane and the Italians gave in and released them. Our problem was that Israelis were exposed to attack, while the terrorists knew that their comrades would get them released. The European states did not want to and could not deal with the problem."
2006-02-17 00:00:00
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