Sylvia Rafael
(1938 - 2005)
The Mossad's most famous female assassin, Sylvia Rafael,
died in February 2005. Rafael, a native
of South
Africa who immigrated to Israel and worked on a kibbutz as
a young woman, died of leukemia. She
died in South Africa where she had returned
after spending some years in jail in Norway for her role in the 1973 “Lillehammer
Affair.”
Operating undercover, Rafael led a team
of Mossad agents hunting for the Palestinians
from Black
September who were responsible for
the massacre
of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich
Olympics. The Lillehammer Affair refers
to the murder by Mossad agents of a Moroccan
waiter, Ahmed Bouchiki, in Lillehammer, Norway
on July 21, 1973. The agents had been sent
by Israel to assassinate Ali
Hassan Salameh, the leader of the Black
September Organization, but mistakenly shot
Bouchiki instead, and the entire Mossad cell
was arrested by Norwegian authorities.
Rafael was given a five-year jail term,
but her sentence was shortened due to health problems.
She married her defense attorney and resettled in South
Africa. Her body was buried in Israel.
Sources: JTA
“Farewell, femme fatale," (February
14, 2005); Wikipedia |