Antidote — M.I. Quandour

The assassination attempt on the Hamas leader Khalid Mishal in Jordan on 25 September, 1997 has to be of one of the greatest fiascos in the history of special operations. It was intended as retaliation against Hamas for the Mahane Yehuda Market bombings on 30 July in Jerusalem of the same year.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, thought that killing Mr. Mishal justified the risk of acting in Jordan. But what was the real purpose of Netanyahu in taking on such a risky operation in broad daylight and in a country where Israel had a peace treaty and supposedly normal diplomatic relations? Mishal was not the man orchestrating the bombings in Israel and he was not considered a high level threat to Israel. There was speculation afterwards that the purpose could have been the creation of disturbances and disruption in Jordan which might lead to Israeli intervention across the River Jordan.

The incident propelled Mishal to a position of leadership in Hamas and he found much needed support for the Hamas movement from many Arab states. The attempted assassination plot produced a different result than what Netanyahu desired.