Noriega right hand dies in Israel.
A LEGENDARY Israeli , spy considered the mythical “right hand” of Panama’s imprisoned former dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega, has died in Tel Aviv.. Mike Harari died at the age of 87 say Israel media reports..
Harari, was the nightmare of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leaders of the of the seventies and eighties, during years of relentless struggle worldwide between his country and the organization He was the main protagonist of the “Wrath of God” operation, portrayed in StevenSpielberg’s film Munich, Reports the AP News agency
Transferred to Mossad in 1954, Harari was commissioned in “Caesarea” special operations, from which developed the “Kidon” unit, responsible for the murder of Arab enemies and was put in charge of the operation “Wrath of God” .
Filmed in 2005 by Spielberg, the operation responded to a decision by the then Prime Minister Golda Meir for the killing the Palestinian leaders who, directly or indirectly, had been involved in the attack on the Munich Olympics in 1972, which killed 11 Israeli athletes.
The exact number of Palestinian leaders that the Mossad killed in that period is unknown, but it is known at least eight and the operation continued, with certainty, until at least 1979, and perhaps even a decade.
The assassination campaign was held in the utmost secrecy until the mid-eighties and has been the subject of much criticism in news reports and books. In one bungled assassination attempt in Noway, they killed a Morrocan waiter, and the Israeli government later paid $400,000 compensation to his family.
“We never were murderers., We did what we had to do to defend the state of Israel,”Harari said in a recent interview to mark the release this year of his biography “IshHamivtzaim” (Man of Operations “).
The mythical agent was also involved in another international scandal when in the eighties, he retired from service, and his country asked him to keep secret relations with Panama’s Manuel Antonio Noriega.
The ex-spy according worked closely with military dictator Omar Torrjos and. acorng to various media reports went on to become Noriega’s right hand and was accused of mercenary activities and drug trafficking,
The United States was suspicious of Harari and during the 1989 invasion, said it had captured Harari. The spy gave an interview in Israel shortly after denying that he had been captured in Panama.