The Israeli Bangkok embassy hostage crisis occurred on 28 December 1972. It was a raid by a squad of four

Palestinian militants Palestinian political violence refers to acts of violence perpetrated for political ends in relation to the State of Palestine or in connection with Palestinian nationalism. Common political objectives include self-determination in and sovereig ...

, belonging to the

Black September Black September ( ar, أيلول الأسود; '' Aylūl Al-Aswad''), also known as the Jordanian Civil War, was a conflict fought in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan between the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF), under the leadership of King Hussei ...

organization, on the

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

building in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

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 Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

. The raid was one of a number of attacks against 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 weapon An automatic firearm is an auto-loading firearm that continuously chambers and fires rounds when the trigger mechanism is actuated. The action of an automatic firearm is capable of harvesting the excess energy released from a previous discharge ...

s and together the four took over the embassy. They allowed all the Thais to leave but kept six

Israelis Israelis ( he, יִשְׂרָאֵלִים‎, translit=Yīśrāʾēlīm; ar, الإسرائيليين, translit=al-ʾIsrāʾīliyyin) are the citizens and nationals of the State of Israel. The country's populace is composed primarily of Je ...

hostage, including

Shimon Avimor Shimon Avimor born Erich S. Schwarz, was an Israeli diplomat and author. Avimor was the Israeli Ambassador to Cambodia, Laos (non-resident, Phnom Penh 1972 – 1975), Gabon. On 28 December 1972, Avimor was one of four Israeli officials who were ...

, Israeli Ambassador to Cambodia who was visiting.

Rehavam Amir Rehavam Amir (Zabludovsky) ( he, רחבעם עמיר; January 1, 1916 – April 4, 2013) was an Israeli ambassador, civil servant and former parachutist with the Hagannah. Biography Rehavam Zabludovsky (later Amir) was born in Vilnius, Lithua ...

, the Israeli

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or s ...

, and his wife Avital were attending the investiture ceremony of

Vajiralongkorn Vajiralongkorn ( th, วชิราลงกรณ; , ; born 28 July 1952) is the King of Thailand. He is the only son of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit. In 1972, at the age of 20, he was made crown prince by his father. After his ...

Crown Prince of Thailand The Crown Prince of Thailand (or Siam; th, สยามมกุฎราชกุมาร; ; lit. the royal son of Siam) is a title held by the heir apparent to the Thai throne. First created by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) in 1886, for his so ...

at the

Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall The Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall ( th, พระที่นั่งอนันตสมาคม : ''Phra Thinang Anantasamakhom'': translated as 'The place of immense gathering'Noobanjong, page 167) is a royal reception hall in Dusit Palace in ...

, thus they were not among the hostages and could therefore participate in the negotiations with the militants. Ambassador Amir and Prime Minister

Thanom Kittikachorn Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn ( th, ถนอม กิตติขจร, ; 11 August 1911 – 16 June 2004) was the leader of Thailand from 1963 to 1973, during which he staged a self-coup, until public protests which exploded into viole ...

was 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 is a Japanese communist and member of the Japanese Red Army (JRA), responsible for the massacre of 26 passengers at Ben-Gurion International Airport in Israel. Biography Kozo Okamoto is the youngest child of a school principal. He was a 24 ...

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 Dawee Chullasapya or Chullasap ( th, ทวี จุลละทรัพย์, , , 8 August 1914 – 18 May 1996) was a Royal Thai Air Force officer, and a member of the Seri Thai. Air chief marshal Dawee was widely considered a pillar of Tha ...

and

Chatichai Choonhavan Chatichai Choonhavan ( th, ชาติชาย ชุณหะวัณ, , ; 5 April 1920 – 6 May 1998) was a Thai army officer, diplomat and politician. From 1986 to 1991, he was the chairman of the Thai Nation Party and served as the Pri ...

, 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 An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

should not be marred by a dispute that did not concern them, the

Thai government The Government of Thailand, or formally the Royal Thai Government ( Abrv: RTG; th, รัฐบาลไทย, , ), is the unitary government of the Kingdom of Thailand. The country emerged as a modern nation state after the foundation of t ...

guaranteed the

terrorists Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

safe travel to

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

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.''Transnational Terrorism: a chronology of events'' by Edward F. Mickolaus Westport, Conn; Greenwood Press, 1980 p.367 Then-Israeli prime minister

Golda Meir Golda Meir, ; ar, جولدا مائير, Jūldā Māʾīr., group=nb (born Golda Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician, teacher, and '' kibbutznikit'' who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to ...

praised the Thai government for their diplomacy which made for a bloodless end of the crisis.

References

External links

Incident summary on START databaseArab Gunmen Free 6 Held In Bangkok
St. Petersburg Times, 29 December 1972
Arab Terrorists Flown To Cairo After Releasing Six Hostages

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

, 30 December 1972
Bangkok Terrorists Given Heroes Welcome In Cairo

Palm Beach Post ''The Palm Beach Post'' is an American daily newspaper serving Palm Beach County in South Florida, and parts of the Treasure Coast. On March 18, 2018, in a deal worth US$42.35 million, ''The Palm Beach Post'' and ''The Palm Beach Daily News'' we ...

, 30 December 1972 {{coord missing, Israel 1972 crimes in Thailand 1972 in international relations 1970s in Bangkok Attacks on buildings and structures in 1972 Attacks on diplomatic missions in Thailand

Black September Organization December 1972 crimes December 1972 events in Asia Hostage taking in Thailand Bangkok Embassy hostage crisis Terrorist attacks attributed to Palestinian militant groups Terrorist incidents in Asia in 1972 Terrorist incidents in Bangkok Terrorist incidents in Thailand in the 1970s

Attack

See also

References

External links