Families of Munich Olympic victims said close to compensation deal with Germany
Agreement could pave the way for family members to participate in upcoming 50th anniversary memorial ceremony after earlier vows to boycott over payment dispute
Weeks after vowing to boycott an upcoming ceremony marking 50 years since the Munich Olympic massacre, family members of the victims are reportedly close to a deal to receive additional funds from the German government.
According to a report in the Ynet news outlet on Tuesday, the families of the 11 Israelis murdered at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich are slated to receive an additional 11 million euros in compensation from Germany, up from an earlier offer of 6.8 million euros.
The report said that each family member involved — 23 individuals in total — will receive around NIS 1.6 million ($483,029). The report cited unnamed Israeli officials telling the news site that the Germans intend to significantly boost their financial offer.
Earlier this month, the families of the 11 Israelis murdered by Palestinian terrorists at the Munich Games in September 1972 announced that they would boycott the upcoming 50th anniversary memorial due to “cruel German behavior” in the compensation dispute.
The New York Times reported at the time that the German government had offered an additional $5.58 million to 23 remaining family members, according to an internal memo obtained by the newspaper, but that lawyers for the bereaved families were seeking 20 times that amount. The report said the families have already received around $4.8 million in compensation.
Ynet reported that the family members held a Zoom meeting on Tuesday morning to discuss the new German offer and whether they would accept it and attend the Munich ceremony next week. Most of the family members were reportedly leaning toward accepting the offer, since they did not want to continue fighting over the issue.
Families of the victims had called on President Isaac Herzog to join in their boycott. He has not publicly declared his intentions, but is expected to fall in line with the ultimate decision of the families.
Members of the Palestinian group Black September broke into the Olympic Village and took athletes from Israel’s national team hostage on September 5, 1972, with the goal of forcing the release of prisoners held by Israel and of two left-wing extremists in West German jails.
Eleven Israelis and a West German police officer were killed during the attack, including during a botched rescue attempt.
Relatives of the athletes have long criticized how German authorities handled the attack and its aftermath. Demands for further compensation have threatened to overshadow the planned memorial event for the 50th anniversary.
The controversy was exacerbated in recent weeks by the furor over inflammatory comments made by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who claimed that Israel had carried out “50 holocausts” against Palestinians, drawing international condemnation.
Abbas was responding to questions during a joint press conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz over whether he would apologize for the Munich massacre, which was carried out by a group then affiliated with his Fatah party.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
