The Spirit of Mike Harari Lives On

Mike Harari, one of Mossad’s greatest operatives, died Sunday at the age of 87. Harari led a full life, indeed more lives in one lifetime than many of us will ever experience. Some of his exploits are well known, but most still remain secret. Marwan Kawasme and Amar Abu Aysha were killed by Israeli forces yesterday in the spirit of retaliation perfected by Mike Harari. Mike Harari was born in Tel Aviv on April 28, 1927 during the British Mandate. He joined the Palmach, lying about his age. He was sent to Europe after World War II to help the Jewish survivors immigrate to the pre-Israel Palestine. He joined Shin Bet and organized the security for Lod Airport, now Ben Gurion Airport. He founded the Kidon unit of Mossad. Kidon’s specialty is innovative assassinations of Israel’s enemies. He played an integral role in the planning of Operation Thunderbolt, the rescue of the hostages held at Entebbe Airport. The only Israeli soldier killed in the rescue operation was Yoni Netanyahu, the brother of Israel’s current Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The Prime Minister called Mike Harari “one of the great warriors for Israel’s security.” Black September, an affiliate of Yassir Arafat’s PLO, killed 11 Jewish athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Israel through Michael Harari’s unit tracked down and killed those believed responsible for Munich. Mistakes happen. Lillehammer was the most unfortunate for Harari. Ali Hassan Salameh was the believed mastermind of Munich. The team thought they had traced him to Lillehammer, Norway, and misidentified Ahmed Bochiki as Ali. They proceeded to assassinate Ahmed in front of his seven months pregnant wife. The operation blew up, resulting in an international backlash. Mike Harari succeeded with killing Salamaeh 5½ years later with a bomb. Israel does not forget its enemies. Nor does it forgive. Prime minister Golda Meir rejected Harari’s resignation letter, saying much work remained to be done. He formally retired from Mossad in 1980. He continued and became involved with Israel’s attempts to scuttle Iran’s development of the Bomb. He may be the official who came up with the idea of killing Iran’s nuclear scientists, of whom at least 4 have died so far. Israel does not forget its attackers. Marwan Kawasme and Amar Abu Aiyha, two Hamas terrorists, kidnapped and killed three Jewish teenagers on June 12, 2014 near Hebron. They essentially signed their own death warrants that night for the murders of Gilad Shaar, Naftali Frankel, and Eyal Yofrach. Israeli forces killed them September 23 in a shootout. Kawasme’s mother called him a hero and Hamas, as usual, referred to them as martyrs. These Hamas ‘martyrs” ignited a 50 day war, resulting in thousands of mostly innocent deaths and the destruction of much of Gaza. Mike Harari’s spirit lives on. He would be proud of the IDF with the end of the two murderers.