The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team

As some of the previous readers have stated, this is a great read on counter terrorism. Those Palestinians who had a role in the Olympic murders are dealt with by a professional hit squad sent out from Israel. Jonas makes the reader know who he is supporting, Avner and his four buddies assigned to track down eleven people who had a hand in the Munich murders.
I don't know if you can believe everything in this book. Jonas in his introduction and footnotes, states that some things were just not reported in the newspapers. When Avner and his buddies kill three Arabs in a church in Switzerland, and there are no news accounts, I wonder if this ever took place. Same with his buddies who were killed and the Athens KGB man, this might be fiction. Without knowing who Avner really is, this might be part true or even a novel.
All in all a great read on how Israel dealt with terrorism in the seventies. Israel put the fear of God in those who put fear in others. Just retribution.

This is a book interesting to read especially by those who lived and followed up the events, through the then available media coverage, as occured.

However, it omitted to mention this fact:

The Arab capitals were on the brink of mental and emotional state of panic and anxiety largely because nobody really had been anticipating anything to happen in Munich.

From the personal memoirs of Abou Daoud (the cammando leader), which he recounted live at Al Jazeera, we learned that he did not expect that fighting would erupt at the Airport and the drama would end in bloodshed. He said he'd hoped that the issue would peacefully terminate within a few days, though in fact this likelihood was remote.

Anyone could see the politicians were preparing to negotiate but it was difficult to draw conclusions that the 'militarists' would bolt - without adequate preparations.

How a Canadian journalist found himself in the position to write this enthralling book would make for an interesting sequel, but Jonas tells the story as a responsible writer would: he lets the story tell itself. Peppered throughout the engrossing chronology, he focuses on details that make the book more than a news report, finding and exposing in the tangled web emotions the triumphs and limitations of humanity. As the story unfolds, he subtly directs and redirects the focus to reveal not only the story, but the story of those within the story, skillfully maintaining the inseparable link between the historical significance and the personal.

This is an outstanding example of historical non-fiction writing, more important today than when it was written twenty years ago. It is disheartening to think we are no closer to finding solutions to the problems of the world, namely terrorism, but that only makes it more necessary to look back at what has been done before, knowing now where it has led us to.

I personally really enjoyed reading the book. I read it AFTER I watched Munich and I wish I had dome the opposite. I twas a bit long and I feel like the story went into painful detail about the simplest things, but for some, that is needed. I often felt like skipping some pages here and there. I feel bad saying that because it's a wonderful story and tells a great perspective on a troubled time. It is well worth the read. As for it's legitimacy, I wasnt alive when all this happened but based on the intricate and pailful detail of some of the stories, it seemed pretty true I guess. Never know, some people have great imaginations.

I got bored with it and never finished it because it is SOOOoooooo detailed. About halfway through the book, it is still detailing the hostage situation at the Munich Olympics and still hadn't gotten to the vengeance part. It was so detailed that reading it started to feel like homework.

I have studied the history behind the PLO and the terrorist organizations that evolved during this time. A lot of the children in our time that lived through 9/11, feel that terrorism is relatively new. When you read this book, and other information regarding middle east turmoil, you will understand that terrorism has been developing for years.

This book is truly fascinating when you think of these young Israeli agents that basically disappeared for years from their families to seek revenge for the deaths of their countrymen.

The age of terrorism is here, and it is certainly not anything new. It is only evolving. I highly recommend this book, simply because of the understanding that it provides to the reader, in regards to the emotions that governments have in the protection for their country.

Am interested in military topics and have always admired Israeli military teams. Remember the day of the Munich massacre well, like Sept 11 and decided to give this book a try. It is exciting and very eye opening. Some of it reads like a novel but the claim is that it is true so I assume it is. It is a story of intrigue, of the incredible commitment of individuals to a cause, of the underworld of counter espionage and the workings of large organizations such as a country like Israel and what happens in the end ... worth the read

When I was thirteen years old (circa 1985), I saw a book on the shelves of the famous "A Clean Well Lighted Place for Books," located in the Larkspur Landing Shopping Center, Larkspur, CA. It was the picture of the Israeli Uzi on the cover that caught my attention. Like many 13 year old boys, I was fascinated by sub-machine guns and automatic pistols. I bought the book because of the cover, but I was in no way ready for the tale I was about to be told. It was the tale of the Israeli Mossad avenging the deaths of the athletes that had been murdered at the Olympic games in Munich (circa 1972). The book read like a Ludlum novel, only this story was true! Contrary to the cover, all the assignations were carried out with .22 caliber ordnance (the choice of Mossad assassins), and not by the 9mm Uzi. This book opened my eyes to a historical tragedy that happened while I was still in diapers -- a tragedy not mentioned in American High School textbooks. And it gave me a fine respect for the prowess and professional nature of Israeli Intelligence (HaMossad leModi'in v'leTafkidim Meyuhadim).

If, like me, you were fascinated by the film Munich and want to know more about the events covered by it, then this book is a worthwhile purchase. There is a wealth of detail here that did not make it into the movie and it provides a fascinating insight into this counter-terrorism action undertaken by the Israeli government under Golda Meir, long before Bush Jr's administration coined the phrase War on Terror.

While integrity in the publishing business is severely inconsistent this account seems believable. Admittedly, by the author, this was a clandestine operation so certainly it is impossible to verify everything. But as the the story goes, in retribution for the Munich Olympic tradegy, a hit squad is put out by Israel with money and a list of names. The story recounts the Leader's (Avner) upbringing and how he found himself in the position of being in charge of a hit team. Then chapter by chapter it recounts the hits and all the operational difficulties, innerworkings and ulitmately success' and failures. Also the book provides insight into the moral and political questions surrounding such an undertaking. All in all a very interesting read. The author, in the latest version on the shelfs, replies to criticism about the authenticity. I find his research methods sound and him believable when he says he believes "Avner's" Account. Certainly these guys were not dying of natural causes. Anyway, having read some junk lately this book I can definitely recommend as worth the cost of purchase.

'Vengeance' is first and foremost a completely gripping and exciting read. It reads like a real life spy novel, with the bonus of being grounded in reality. There is some controversy surrounding this book and the authenticity of the sources, which the author goes to some length to answer in a section at the end. But regardless of that, this makes for great reading with lots of espionage and international intrigue. I found it to be heavily biased in favour of Israel which grated on my nerves a bit, there was no balanced view of why the Palestinians felt it necessary to resort to violence in the first place, but I guess that's a topic for another time and place (incidentally if this does interest you check out 'Inside Israel-Palestine: The Conflict Explained' by Phyllis Bennis ). The film 'Munich' was based on this book and if you've seen that then you know what to expect and if you haven't, then this is still an exciting read. It looks at the planning of the various assassinations, as well as terrorist organizations at that time and various security agencies and their policies. Overall, a good engrossing read if you can look past the heavy bias.

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Jonas makes it very clear in the foreward of this book that much of the story cannot be verified independently. He does his best to remind the reader throughout the book that this is one man's story and that the author has done alot of research to verify as much as possible. Clandestine operations such as the Israeli Counter terrorist team's work by definition would be difficult to independently confirm.

I was thrilled at Jonas' perspective throughout his book. He makes it clear that he is a strong supporter of Israel and recognizes the difference between Palestinian terrorism and Israeli counter-terrorist executions of the murderers. This is more than most news organizations today are willing to do. Jonas knows that referring to Arab terrorists as "guerrillas", "militants" or "fighters" demonstrates the bias against Israel. He makes clear that they are murderers and that the legitimate execution of murderers is acceptable. He also recognizes that this necessary defensive work takes a toll on those required to do it. This book is their story - and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Plain and simply, whether fiction or fact, this book is a page turner. You can't put it down, and if you do, you can't wait to get back to it.

What a great story and writer! It is the best book I have read in a long time.

Read it, then rent the movie "Munich" after it.

George Jonas pulls you right into the fray, and you will gain a new respect and appreciation for Golda Meier's judgement, heart and grit in dealing with what can only be described as pure evil. But she was very explicit in her orders, and you will have to read the book to see if you agree on the conditions she set for the people assigned the task. They would be making sure no one would ever again devalue the lives, the best of the best from Israel, like they did in Munich. My daughter was a newborn when I learned about the actual slaughter of innocent Israeli athletes pour in over the airwaves, and it made me both angry and sick. Jonas is able to bring you right there, and his book is a treasure trove because of the appendix that names names of the terrorists.

Interesting book. It's a behind the scenes story of how an Isreali counterterror team operated while avenging the killings at the Munich Olympics. I read the book in about three days, and it was hard to put down. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the workings of a Mossad team, or counterterror operations in general.

This is a very interesting book which is the basis of course for Steven Spielberg's new movie MUNICH. While this is a good and dramatic film, an even better adaptation is the HBO film SWORD OF GIDEON which is available on DVD. There is so much effort made to project this film and its "lessons" on current events in the Middle East between Israel and the Palestinians or between Al Qaeda and the Western nations. This is a false association. Israel has been fighting for its life since 1948 when it was founded as a nation. The history of the conflict goes back even further. What this book really is about is a civilization trying to protect itself and its future and values. That is worth reading about, the "higher/historic message" just isn't there.

This is one of those books that leaves you wondering, on several levels, about its contents. I don't think this is bad: actually, since it gets you thinking about the issues involved, I think it's a good thing. Vengeance purports to recount the efforts of a group of Israelis sent by the Mossad to Europe to kill various PLO figures who had aided, supported, planned, or otherwise enabled the 1972 Munich massacre of the Israeli Olympic team. The whole book apparently, at the time, raised a considerable controversy: many of the events in the story are uncorroborated, and of course this would lead to some readers being skeptical.

On the other hand, this book represents the sort of thing you'd expect would happen. We know the Israelis at least tried such operations: the killing of a Morrocan waiter in Lillehammer Norway was certainly an attempt to kill one of the PLO's top guys, and some of the supporting Mossad operatives were caught, tried, convicted, and sentenced to jail for their part in the plot. The whole thing sounds believable, down to the team having specialists for various aspects of operations in Europe, to their using small pistols because of the lack of loud noise (.22s with reduced powder for even less noise), the bombs that don't work exactly as planned, and the lack of exact information as to who was behind the retaliation once it began.

This book reads as a spy novel, and perhaps should be read at least partially as if it is one. After all, does anyone think that the writings of John Le Carre are completely fictional. He was, for a short time anyway, in the intelligence community, as were Graham Greene and Frederick Forsyth. You have to think that those authors include things from their own experience, and from the experiences of acquaintances, in their writings. This book, in an odd way, is similar. The author apparently writes the story with (as far as he knows) all of the main action recounted accurately, but he revised personal characteristics in order to conceal identities. As a result, the book is a history with novelistic elements, as opposed to a novel with historical elements.

I found the main premise of the book to be believable, however. While there's some doubt that Israel killed off as many people as this book says they did, in the fashion recounted here, the whole thing sounds plausible to me. The idea that they would have initial success and ultimately unravel is completely believable, and the premise that there were other teams, who eventually assasinated other PLO functionaries, is completely believeable. The anecdotes involving the main character negotiating with his bosses in a somewhat adversarial relationship sounds very convincing, while at the same time not being exactly what you'd expect in a professional intelligence agency. While unconfirmed, the whole story sounds credible, and that may be the best argument that it happened: at this point corroboration seems less likely, though I suppose that the Israelis could have a change of heart and come out and admit that what is recounted in the book actually happened. The end of the book makes it clear this is unlikely, though.

All in all, a good book, interesting, intelligently written, and confronting one of the great dillemmas of our time: what do you do when terrorists target innocent civilians and kill them? The author quotes Ghandhi as saying that an eye for an eye leads to a world of blind people. One might respond that no eye for an eye leads to a world of righteous blind people, and sighted victimizers. Very very interesting book.

I saw the movie first, and then finally found the book on the store.com, because the retail stores did not have it. I never heard about the follow up of the Munich massacre, so the movie created interest. While reading the book, the images from the movie came alive again. The movie was pretty much the same as the book.

Skillfully written, carefully researched, and unafraid to capture feeling - a reflexion of the protagonist's sixth sense - rather than argue the validity evidence. A valuable insight into a secret world.

Some of these customer reviews are by people who've watched too much TV. They think it can't be true because agents on both sides make silly mistakes, as when a Palestinian agent wears distinctive perfume. The fact is, under pressure, professionals can make all kinds of mistakes. That's how soldiers are killed, for example, by friendly fire. These mistakes make this page-turner more, not less plausible.

Vengence is a gripping description of Israeli counter intelligence with the emphasis on vengence. My only qualification is the accuracy of the narrative. It is extremely difficult to penetrate accurately what Israeli counter intelligence is up to.

This book has repeatedly been determined to be a hoax by a known, prolific fabricator named Yuval (or Juval) Aviv. An investigation by the British newspaper The Guardian determined: "Aviv never served in Mossad, or any Israeli intelligence organisation. He had failed basic training as an Israeli Defence Force commando, and his nearest approximation to spy work was as a lowly gate guard for the airline El Al in New York in the early 70s. The tale he had woven was apparently nothing more than a Walter Mitty fabrication."

This a competently done hoax, but a hoax nonetheless. For the real story, read "STRIKING BACK."

According to the left-wing Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Vengeance is "a book in which there is no truth." Research confirms this. Mr. Jonas relied largely on the information given him by Yuval Aviv, a man who posed as a Mossad agent, "even though he had never worked in the Mossad and certainly had not participated in operations to kill those involved in the athletes' murder." His only security experience was when he worked as a security guard for El Al in New York. Shaister.com tells us that "Zvi Zamir, who was head of Mossad during that period, has also stated on several occasions that he has never known Aviv and there there is no connection betwee! n what is related in Jonas' book and what really happened." Zamir also states that he was never contacted by Spielberg for the true facts in the case, and he is surprised that the director would "rely on this particular book" for his source material.

Dec. 21 marks the anniversary of the Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie Scotland in 1988, which is related to the same Yuval Aviv and his fraudulent actions. The bombing, which claimed the lives of 243 passengers and 16 crew members. There were 37 students on board flying home from an overseas study program in London. One of those students was the only child of Susan and Dan Cohen, who have never ended their efforts to avenge their daughter's death. The Cohens are very disturbed about the fact that Yuval Aviv, the same Mossad imposter who tried to take advantage of them, is the man whose fraudulent information was the source for Steven Spielberg's new film, "Munich".

According to the Cohens, Aviv's "unscrupulous practice of telling tailor-made stories to the highest bidder" is illustrated by the fact that Aviv wrote a report exonerating Pan Am in the 103 matter which gained him much media attention. Aviv had previously contacted them "and offered information that would prove that Pan Am had been negligent in preventing the disaster," just the opposite of what he was saying on behalf of Pan Am....

In conclusion, if Jonas' source for what he writes in Vengeance is a fraud, then Veneance itself is a fraud.

Based on an article written by Helen Freedman

Executive Director

Americans For a Safe Israel/AFSI

Complete trash written by a guy who used a pathelogical liar as a source. The entire extent of the source's experience in operations for Israeli security was working for El Al, the Israeli national airline screening passengers and luggage.