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Operation Wrath of God, also called Operation Bayonet, was a covert operation directed by Isarel and its security agency, Mossad, to assassinate individuals alleged to have been directly or indirectly involved in the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Their targets include members of the Palestinian militant group Black September, who were responsible for the Munich attack, and members of the Plaestine Liberation Organization accused of involvement. Authorized to begin by Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in the autumn of 1972, the operation may have continued for more than 20 years. During this time, covert Israeli assassination units killed dozens of Palestinians and Arabs across Europe, including the mistaken murder of an innocent waiter in Lillehammer, Norway. An additional military assault was launched by Israeli Commandos deep inside Lebanon to kill several high profile Palestinian targets. This string of assassinations spurred retaliatory attacks by Black September against a variety of Israeli government targets around the world. It has also prompted criticism of Israel for its choice of targets, tactic or assassination, and overall effectiveness. Because of the secretive nature of the operation, some details are unverifiable beyond a single source. For many, the Munich massacre, Israel’s retaliation, and Palestinian Counter retaliation epitomized the seemingly never ending cycle of violence in the Arab Israeli conflict that continues in different forms today. This operation was outcome of the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September. Soon after the incident, Prime Minister Gloda Meir created Committee X, a small group of government officials tasked with formulating as Israeli response, with herself and Defence Minister Moshe Dayan at the head. She also appointed General Aharon Yariv as her Adviser on Counterterrorism. He, along with Mossad Director Zvi Zamir, took the principal role in directing the ensuing operation. The committee came to the conclusion that to deter future terrorist incidents against Israel they needed to assassinate campaign. The committees first task for Israeli intelligence was to draw up an assassination list of all those involved in Munich. This was accomplished with the aid of PLO operatives working for the Mossad, and with information provided by friendly European intelligence agencies. While the contents of the entire list are unknown, reports put the final number of targets at 20 to 35, a mix of Black September and PLO elements. It is also known that Mossad agent Michael Harari led the creation and direction of the teams, although some may not have always been under government responsibility.