After the first reports about the attack in Munich, the Israeli government approached the West German government and the International Olympic Committee with a forceful demand to suspend the games as long as the hostages had not been released. The Israeli embassy in Washington tried to put pressure on the US government to support the demand. Golda Meir even told the government the next day that President Nixon had called her and said that he had told the American delegation to suspend its participation as long as the Israeli sportsemen were in danger (Document 9). Initially it did seem that the Americans were inclined to try to stop the games, as reported by Ambassador Yitzhak Rabin to the Foreign Ministry (Document 5). Public opinion in Israel was also outraged and demanded stopping the games. However, the embassy in Bonn reported that the heads of the Olympic Committee and the West German authorities had decided not to do so; among other things, because “German television has no alternative programme” (Document 6). Later, it was decided to suspend the games and hold a memorial ceremony the following day for the two Israelis killed in the first few hours, which eventually became a memorial ceremony for all eleven murdered sportsmen.
Demonstration against continuing the Olympic Games after the massacre, 6 September 1972 Israel State Archives
The tragic conclusion of the attack raised the issue of cancelling the games completely. At the government meeting the ministers disagreed on the question of whether Israel should continue to demand stopping the games (Document 9). It was decided to await the US position, and the statement that was released said only that the entire Israeli delegation had cancelled its participation and was returning to Israel. However, an exchange of telegrams with the embassy in Washington made clear that the Americans had asked that Golda should not approach the president with a request to pull out the American delegation. She should not force them to face this dilemma. Mordechai Gazit, the director-general of the Foreign Ministry, told Rabin: “We, as a government, do not wish to present a demand to stop the games, but if the American delegation were to shorten its stay, we would be very grateful” (Document 7). Although the German ambassador to Israel had said on 6 September that his government was inclined to stop the games (Document 8), after a recess of one day, they continued to their planned conclusion.
