Israel weighing response to 1st possible Munich games since 1972 terror attack.
By ALLON SINAI, APMunich victims 298(photo credit: Courtesy)
The Olympic Committee of Israel is weighing how to respond to the news that Munich is considering bidding for the 2018 Winter Olympics. This would be Munich's first bid since the fateful 1972 Olympic Games, in which 11 Israeli athletes were murdered by terrorists.
Mayor Christian Ude said Thursday that if Germany's national Olympic association decides in favor of a bid then "Munich is well-equipped and hard to top."
Following Salzburg's defeat that saw the Russian Black Sea city of Sochi win the 2014 games on Wednesday, Ude said "even more arguments speak in favor of a German bid."
In 1972, the Palestinian terrorist group Black September massacred the Israeli athletes and one German police officer was also killed. Five of the eight terrorists were killed by police officers during an aborted rescue attempt. The three surviving terrorists were captured, and were later released by Germany following the hijacking of a Lufthansa airliner. Israel subsequently killed many of the members of Black September.
The German Olympic Sports Federation is to discuss a possible bid on July 24.
"For everyone in sports, (the) Olympic Games in one's own country are a dream," federation general director Michael Vesper said. "However, we must examine and weigh very closely the prospects of success - also from the point of view of how financially costly a bid is."
if(catID != 151){
var cont = `Take Israel home with the new Jerusalem Post Store
