Feed aggregator

Kozo Okamoto, the last surviving member of the three-man terrorist squad that carried out the 1972 massacre at Ben Gurion Airport, has died in Beirut at the age of 78. Okamoto participated in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Israel’s history, in which 24 people were murdered and 71 others were wounded before he was later released from prison in the 1985 Jibril prisoner exchange.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) announced Okamoto’s death, stating that he died in Beirut’s Dahiyeh district, a Hezbollah-controlled area of the Lebanese capital.

On May 30, 1972, Okamoto landed at what was then known as Lod Airport, now Ben Gurion Airport, aboard an Air France flight together with two fellow members of the Japanese Red Army.

Moments after arriving, the three terrorists pulled Kalashnikov assault rifles from their luggage and began spraying gunfire into crowds of passengers before hurling grenades into the terminal.

The attack left 24 people dead and another 71 wounded.

Okamoto was the only member of the terrorist cell to survive the massacre. His two accomplices were killed during the assault, while he was wounded, captured by Israeli authorities, and taken into custody.

An Israeli court sentenced him to life in prison, but after serving 13 years, he was freed in 1985 as part of the Jibril prisoner exchange. Following his release, he relocated to Lebanon, where he remained for the rest of his life.

Although the attackers were members of the communist Japanese Red Army, they carried out the massacre on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which had recruited and trained the group for the operation.

Over the years, Japan repeatedly requested that Lebanon extradite Okamoto to face justice, but Lebanese authorities consistently refused those requests.

Okamoto lived largely out of the public eye during his decades in Lebanon, making only occasional public appearances.

One of his few public appearances came in May 2022 during a ceremony in Beirut commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Ben Gurion Airport massacre.

The event took place at a cemetery where numerous Palestinian terrorists are buried, near a memorial dedicated to four Japanese nationals who had been involved with Palestinian terrorist organizations.

At the ceremony, Okamoto wore a Palestinian flag along with a scarf bearing the slogan of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Appearing visibly frail, he was assisted to the memorial by several companions.

Although he remained silent throughout the approximately 30-minute ceremony, he occasionally smiled and waved to those in attendance.

With his party continuing to lose ground in the polls, Bennett Party chairman Naftali Bennett sparked a political firestorm after delivering a blistering speech attacking the chareidi community, warning that Israel must “dismantle the anti-Zionist chareidi state” or risk losing the Zionist state altogether.

Addressing a conference of party activists, Bennett called for a fundamental change in the government’s approach to the chareidi public, arguing that the era of political compromise had come to an end.

During his speech, Bennett said: “Therefore, the era of compromises is over; no exemptions, no budgets. If we do not dismantle the anti-Zionist chareidi state, we will lose the Zionist state. And I want to tell you, I say this out of love for our brothers—I do not hate them…”

The remarks, delivered just days before Tishah B’Av, drew widespread criticism because of both their timing and their unusually harsh tone. Tishah B’Av is traditionally a time for reflecting on the dangers of internal division and baseless hatred among the Jewish people.

Bennett’s comments also come as his political standing continues to deteriorate. Recent public opinion surveys have shown his party steadily losing support after previously polling at significantly higher levels.

Political analysts are now debating whether the increasingly aggressive rhetoric is an attempt to shore up support among his base as his poll numbers slide or whether it signals a broader shift toward a more confrontational campaign strategy ahead of the next election.

A Channel 13 News poll released Tuesday night showed Bennett’s party falling to a new low of just 14 Knesset seats.

According to the same survey, Likud lost one seat, while the anti-Netanyahu bloc also dropped by one seat to 60 mandates, despite the Arab parties gaining two seats.

{Matzav.com}