Bangkok Israeli embassy hostage crisis

(Redirected from 1972 Israeli Embassy attack in Bangkok) 1972 Palestinian militant attack in Thailand

Israeli Bangkok embassy hostage crisis
The attack site
Location	Bangkok, Thailand
Date	28 December 1972 (1972-12-28)
Target	Israeli embassy
Attack type	Hostage taking
Perpetrators	Black September

v t e Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon
Engagements El Al Flight 426 hijacking El Al Flight 253 attack retaliation raid El Al Flight 432 attack TWA Flight 840 hijacking (1969) Avivim school bus bombing Lod Airport massacre Sabena Flight 571 1972 air raid Kiryat Shmona massacre Ma'alot massacre 1974 Nahariya attack Savoy Hotel attack Kfar Yuval hostage crisis Coastal Road massacre 1978 South Lebanon conflict 1979 Ma'alot attack 1979 Nahariya attack Misgav Am hostage crisis 1981 bombing of Lebanon 1982 Lebanon War siege of Beirut International incidents Munich massacre Mossad assassinations following the Munich massacre 1972 raid Israeli Bangkok Embassy hostage crisis 1973 raid Sabena Flight 571 hijacking Attack on the Saudi Embassy in Khartoum 1973 New York City bomb plot 1973 Athens Hellinikon International Airport attack TWA Flight 841 (1974) Pan Am Flight 110 Operation Entebbe

Palestinian insurgency
in South Lebanon

Engagements

International incidents

The Israeli Bangkok embassy hostage crisis occurred on 28 December 1972. It was a raid by a squad of four Palestinian militants, belonging to the Black September organization, on the Israeli embassy building in Bangkok in which the militants held six Israeli embassy staff hostage. After 19 hours of negotiations, the hijackers agreed to abandon the embassy in exchange for being flown to Egypt. The raid was one of a number of attacks that have been conducted against Israeli embassies and diplomats.

Attack

The attack began when two Black September operatives infiltrated a party being held at the embassy. Once these two were inside, two others climbed over the wall with automatic weapons and together the four took over the embassy. They allowed all the Thais to leave but kept six Israelis hostage, including Shimon Avimor, Israeli Ambassador to Cambodia who was visiting. Rehavam Amir, the Israeli ambassador, and his wife Avital were attending the investiture ceremony of Vajiralongkorn as Crown Prince of Thailand at the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall, thus they were not among the hostages and could therefore participate in the negotiations with the militants. Ambassador Amir and Prime Minister Thanom Kittikachorn were informed about the siege during a break in the middle of the ceremony.

The militants moved their hostages to the second floor of the three-storey building and made their demands. The militants demanded that 36 prisoners be released from Israeli prisons, including Kōzō Okamoto and the survivors of the Sabena Flight 571 incident. They threatened to blow up the embassy if these demands were not met by 08:00 on 29 December.

Two Thai government members, Dawee Chullasapya and Chatichai Choonhavan, who was then deputy foreign minister and became prime minister in 1988, along with the Egyptian ambassador to Thailand, Mustapha el Assawy, negotiated the release of the hostages and instead offered themselves and a number of other Thai officials as surety for the terrorists' safe conduct to Cairo.

After 19 hours of negotiation, an agreement, subsequently dubbed the "Bangkok solution", was worked out and no-one was injured.

Feeling that the Thai nation's celebration of the investiture of the heir to the throne should not be marred by a dispute that did not concern them, the Thai government guaranteed the terrorists safe travel to Cairo while leaving the hostages in the care of the Thais.

The Black September leadership was reportedly upset with the behavior of its operatives in settling the incident.

Then-Israeli prime minister Golda Meir praised the Thai government for their diplomacy which made for a bloodless end of the crisis.

References

^ Reeve, Simon (2000). One Day in September: The Full Story of the 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and the Israeli Revenge Operation "Wrath of God". Arcade. pp. 169–170. ISBN 978-1-55970-547-9.
Klein, Aaron. Striking Back. Random House, 2005, p. 135
^ King Bhumibol Adulyadej: A Life's Work, Editions Didier Millet, 2012, p. 126
Whitney, Craig R. (29 December 1972). "Israeli Embassy in Bangkok Held by Arabs 19 Hours". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
O'Loughlin, Peter (29 December 1972). "Arab Terrorists Flown to Cairo After Releasing Six Hostages". The Telegraph. p. 24. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
Klein, Aaron J. (2007). Striking Back: The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel's Deadly Response. Random House. p. 137. ISBN 978-1-58836-586-6. In Beirut, Ali Hassan Salameh was enraged by the operation's failure.
Transnational Terrorism: a chronology of events by Edward F. Mickolaus Westport, Conn; Greenwood Press, 1980 p.367

External links

Incident summary on START database
Arab Gunmen Free 6 Held In Bangkok St. Petersburg Times, 29 December 1972
Arab Terrorists Flown To Cairo After Releasing Six Hostages The Daily Telegraph, 30 December 1972
Bangkok Terrorists Given Heroes Welcome In Cairo Palm Beach Post, 30 December 1972

v t e Prominent terrorist attacks against Israelis in the history of the Arab–Israeli conflict – the 1970s
1970	Munich bus attack (February 10) Swissair Flight 330 attack (February 21) Avivim school bus bombing (May 22) Olympic Airways Flight 255 hijacking (July 22) Dawson's Field hijackings (September 6-13)
1971	Murder of the Aroyo children (January 2)
1972	Lufthansa Flight 649 (February 22–23) Sabena Flight 571 (May 8) Lod Airport massacre (May 30) Munich massacre (5–6 September) Killing of Ami Shachori (18 September) Lufthansa Flight 615 (October 29) Bangkok hostage crisis (December 28)
1973	Assassination of Yosef Alon (July 1) Schoenau ultimatum (September 28–29) Rome airport attacks and hijacking (December 17–18)
1974	Kiryat Shmona massacre (April 11) Ma'alot massacre (May 15) Nahariya attack (24–25 June) TWA Flight 841 (September 8) Paris café attack (September 15) Beit She'an attack (November 19)
1975	Orly Airport attacks (January 13 and 19) Savoy Hotel attack (March 6) Kfar Yuval hostage crisis (June 15) Zion Square refrigerator bombing (July 4) Zion Square ice cream shop bombing (November 13)
1976	Air France Flight 139 (June 27) Yeşilköy airport attack (August 11)
1977	Lufthansa Flight 181 (October 13–18)
1978	Coastal Road massacre (March 11) ‡ Orly Airport attack (May 20) London bus attack (August 20)
1979	Ma'alot attack (January 13) Nahariya massacre (April 22)
Attacks launched from the West Bank Attacks launched from the Gaza Strip Attacks launched from Lebanon Attacks launched from Jordan ‡ indicates the terrorist attack which caused the greatest amount of Israeli casualties during the 1970s List of projectile attacks from Lebanon on Israel and the Golan Heights 1960s 1980s

v t e Prominent Palestinian militancy attacks in the 1970s
Within Israel	Avivim school bus bombing (May 22, 1970) Lod Airport massacre (May 30, 1972) Kiryat Shmona massacre (April 11, 1974) Ma'alot massacre (May 15, 1974) Nahariya attack (June 24–25, 1974) Beit She'an attack (November 19, 1974) Savoy Hotel attack (March 6, 1975) Kfar Yuval hostage crisis (June 15, 1975) Zion Square refrigerator bombing (July 4, 1975) Coastal Road massacre (March 11, 1978) Nahariya massacre (April 22, 1979)
Gaza Strip	Murder of the Aroyo children (January 2, 1971)
Aircraft attacks and hijackings	Swissair Flight 330 (February 21, 1970) Olympic Airways Flight 255 hijacking (July 22, 1970) Dawson's Field hijackings (September 6–13, 1970) Lufthansa Flight 649 (February 22–23, 1972) Sabena Flight 571 (May 8, 1972) Lufthansa Flight 615 (October 29, 1972) Rome airport attacks and hijacking (December 17–18, 1973) TWA Flight 841 (September 8, 1974) Air France Flight 139 (June 27, 1976) Lufthansa Flight 181 (October 13–18, 1977)
Worldwide	Munich massacre (September 5–6, 1972) Israeli Bangkok embassy hostage crisis (December 28, 1972) Assassination of the Israeli attache in Washington (July 1, 1973) Schoenau ultimatum (September 28–29, 1973) Paris café attack (September 15, 1974) Orly Airport attacks (January, 1975) OPEC siege (December 21, 1975) Yeşilköy airport attack (August 11, 1976) Orly Airport attack (May 20, 1978) London bus attack (August 20, 1978)
Attacks launched from Lebanon 1960s 1980s

v t e Terrorism in Thailand
Bangkok (1972) Bangkok (1999) Songkhla (2005) Bangkok (2006) Hat Yai (2006) South Thailand (2007) Songkhla (2007) Narathiwat (2009) Watthana (2012) Southern Thailand (2012) Bangkok (2015) Thailand (2016) Yala (2019) Bangkok (2019)

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