Operation Bramble Bush: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|1992 Israeli plan to assassinate Iraqi president Saddam Hussein}} |
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{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2011}} |
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2011}} |
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| ⚫ | '''Operation Bramble Bush''' was an [[Israel]] |
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{{Infobox military operation |
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| name = Operation Bramble Bush |
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| partof = the [[Arab–Israeli conflict]] |
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| planned = November 7, 1992 |
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| image = |
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| scope = [[Assassination|Assassination attempt]] |
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| planned_by = {{military|Israel}} |
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| objective = Assassinate [[Saddam Hussein]] at his uncle's funeral |
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| executed = |
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| outcome = Plan cancelled following a training disaster in which 5 Israeli soldiers were killed and 6 others were wounded |
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}} |
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| ⚫ | '''Operation Bramble Bush''' ({{Langx|he|מבצע שיח אטד}}) was an [[Israel|Israeli]] plan to assassinate Iraqi President [[Saddam Hussein]], in 1992. It was described in full in December 2003 by the Israeli newspaper ''[[Yedioth Ahronoth]]'',<ref>[https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=129003&page=1 Israel's Secret Plan to Kill Saddam] ABC News, Jan. 11, 2004.</ref> but news reports had circulated about the plot since January 1999.<ref name="times">{{Cite web|url=https://jweekly.com/1999/01/22/report-says-israel-dumped-plan-to-assassinate-saddam/|title=Report says Israel dumped plan to assassinate Saddam|first=J.|last=Correspondent|date=January 22, 1999}}</ref> The plan was conceived as retaliation for [[Iraqi rocket attacks on Israel|Iraqi Scud missile attacks]] during the [[Gulf War]].<ref name="defence">{{Cite web|url=https://www.defencetalk.com/israel-reveals-post-gulf-war-plan-to-assassinate-shelved-after-drill-blunder-2074/|title=Israel reveals post Gulf war plan to assassinate, shelved after drill blunder}}</ref> Another motivation was the postwar revelation by UN inspectors that Iraq had been a few years away from potential nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons capability as well as the missile capability to hit Israel, and the fear that Hussein would continue trying to develop such capabilities.<ref name="Bergman">Bergman, Ronen: ''[[Rise and Kill First]]'', p. 358-361</ref> The plan was called off after five commandos were accidentally killed during the final rehearsal for the operation; the accident is known in Israel as the '''Tze'elim Bet disaster''' ({{Lang|he|אסון צאלים ב'}}). |
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== Plan == |
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A rehearsal for the operation took place on November 5, 1992 in the [[Negev]] desert.<ref name=mossad/> The operation's execution was just two days away. However, in the rehearsal, Israeli commandos accidentally fired live rounds into a convoy simulating the target, killing five of their fellow Sayeret Matkal commandos and wounding six more.<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/secret-protocols-reveal-yitzhak-rabin-approved-an-israeli-operation-to-kill-saddam-hussein.premium-1.476854 Secret protocols reveal: Yitzhak Rabin approved an Israeli operation to kill Saddam Hussein]</ref> The head of the IDF, [[Ehud Barak]], had been watching the rehearsal at the time.<ref name=defence/> |
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IDF Chief of Staff [[Ehud Barak]] persuaded Prime Minister [[Yitzhak Shamir]] and then his successor [[Yitzhak Rabin]] to approve an operation to assassinate Saddam Hussein. In January 1992, he formed a team headed by [[Amiram Levin]] to examine ways Saddam could be assassinated. Various schemes were considered, among them crashing an Israeli plane or satellite in Iraq and then blowing it up when Hussein came to inspect it, creating a European straw company to sell him a new modern television studio from which he could broadcast his speeches and blowing it up as he broadcast, and detonating a booby-trapped monument as he stood before it at a memorial ceremony.<ref name=Bergman/> |
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When Saddam's uncle, [[Khairallah Talfah]], was discovered to be terminally ill, the Israelis decided to ambush the [[funeral]] party at the family's plot at the cemetery in [[Tikrit]], as it was the only place outside of well-guarded [[Baghdad]] where it would surely be Saddam himself and not a body double. The Israelis closely followed Talfah's treatment in [[Jordan]]. When it was decided that he was taking too long to die, a plan was conceived for the [[Mossad]] to assassinate [[Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti|Barzan al-Tikriti]], Saddam's half-brother who was then the Iraqi ambassador to the [[United Nations]], and ambush Saddam at his funeral instead.<ref name=Bergman/> |
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| ⚫ | The plan was cancelled. Israeli press reports described the incident as a "training accident."<ref>"Five Soldiers Killed, Six Injured In Training Mishap." The Associated Press, November 5, 1992.</ref> Israeli censors tried to prevent Israeli newspapers from publishing the fact that the head of military intelligence, [[Uri |
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| ⚫ | Under the plan, a commando team from the Israeli Army's elite [[Sayeret Matkal]] unit was to be inserted into Iraq by helicopter some distance away, travel to the cemetery in jeeps disguised to look like Iraqi Army vehicles and fitted with missile launchers, and kill Saddam with TV-guided "Midras" missiles.<ref name=harnden>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/1449688/Israelis-dropped-assassination-plan-after-practice-run-ended-in-disaster.html "Israelis dropped assassination plan after practice run ended in disaster"] by [[Toby Harnden]], Telegraph. Dec. 17, 2003.</ref><ref name=mossad>[http://radioislam.org/historia/zionism/mossd_saddam.html Mossad plot to assassinate Saddam] January 1999. Accessed April 3, 2010. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620192441/http://radioislam.org/historia/zionism/mossd_saddam.html |date=June 20, 2010 }}</ref><ref name="goodspeed">{{cite book | title=When Reason Fails: Portraits of Armies at War : America, Britain, Israel, and the Future | page=128 | author=Michael Goodspeed | year=2002 | isbn=978-0275973780 | publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]}}</ref><ref name=Bergman/> |
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| ⚫ | Seven years later, Operation Bramble Bush II once again targeted Saddam. [[Mossad]] agents had scouted locations in Iraq for the ambush of the Iraqi leader. However, as before, the plan was scrapped, this time |
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Sayeret Matkal commandos drilled for the operation with a replica of the [[Family of Saddam Hussein|Hussein family]]'s cemetery at the infantry training base near kibbutz [[Tze'elim]] in the [[Negev]]. When the commandos were declared ready, a rehearsal for the operation led by [[Doron Kempel]] was held for senior IDF commanders on November 5, 1992.<ref name=Bergman/><ref name=mossad/> Ehud Barak was among those in attendance.<ref name=defence/> The operation's execution was planned for just two days away. |
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== Training accident == |
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The members of the hit team drilled with live missiles, while members of the unit's intelligence and administrative staff played the part of Saddam and his entourage. The commandos fired live rounds at a convoy simulating the target after mistaking a "dry run", where a soldier posed as Saddam waving at crowds, for a "wet run", where Saddam's part was replaced by a mannequin due to weariness from the training as well as poor planning to the point where the same code word was used for both a "dry" and "wet" run. As a result, the commandos fired two missiles at their fellow soldiers simulating Saddam and his convoy, one of which hit the middle of the convoy while the other landed a few yards away. Five soldiers were killed and six wounded.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/2012-11-12/ty-article/.premium/rabin-gave-go-ahead-to-kill-saddam/0000017f-e864-df5f-a17f-fbfe7b120000|title=Secret Protocols Reveal: Yitzhak Rabin Approved an Israeli Operation to Kill Saddam Hussein|newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref><ref name=Bergman/> |
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| ⚫ | The plan was cancelled. Israeli press reports described the incident as a "training accident."<ref>"Five Soldiers Killed, Six Injured In Training Mishap." The Associated Press, November 5, 1992.</ref> Israeli censors tried to prevent Israeli newspapers from publishing the fact that the head of military intelligence, [[Uri Sagi]], had witnessed the accident, but the censors relented a few weeks later.<ref>"Censor lifts ban on general's role in accident." UPI, November 23, 1992.</ref> On November 24, the American newspaper ''[[The Miami Herald]]'' reported that the soldiers involved in the accident had been rehearsing a plan to kill [[Hezbollah]] leader [[Hassan Nasrallah]].<ref>Rotem, Michael. "US PAPER: TZE'ELIM EXERCISE WAS PRELUDE TO NASRALLAH KILLING." ''The Jerusalem Post'', November 25, 1992.</ref> The ''[[New York Times]]'', ''[[The Times]]'', and the ''[[The Independent|Independent]]'' also reported on the apparent attempt against Nasrallah, and the Israeli military censor complained the reporters from all newspapers involved had violated censorship laws.<ref>"Israel's Censor Upbraids 4 Foreign Reporters." ''The New York Times'', November 26, 1992.</ref> |
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== Aftermath == |
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| ⚫ | Seven years later, Operation Bramble Bush II once again targeted Saddam. [[Mossad]] agents had scouted locations in [[Iraq]] for the ambush of the Iraqi leader. However, as before, the plan was scrapped, this time because of both the British-American [[Operation Desert Fox]] and concerns that the operation could harm the [[Arab–Israeli peace projects|Arab–Israeli peace process]].<ref name="times" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.afio.com/sections/wins/1999/notes0599.html|title=AFIO | Weekly Intelligence Notes|website=www.afio.com}}</ref> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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[[Category:Operations involving Israeli special forces|Bramble Bush]] |
[[Category:Operations involving Israeli special forces|Bramble Bush]] |
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[[Category:Cancelled military operations involving Israel|Bramble Bush]] |
[[Category:Cancelled military operations involving Israel|Bramble Bush]] |
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[[Category:Israel Defense Forces disasters]] |
[[Category:Israel Defense Forces disasters]] |
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[[Category:Saddam Hussein]] |
[[Category:Saddam Hussein]] |
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[[Category:Iraq–Israel relations]] |
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[[Category:1992 disasters in Israel]] |
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[[Category:1992 in Iraq]] |
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[[Category:Aftermath of the Gulf War]] |
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Latest revision as of 00:34, 6 January 2025
| Operation Bramble Bush | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Arab–Israeli conflict | |
| Operational scope | Assassination attempt |
| Planned | November 7, 1992 |
| Planned by |  Israel Defense Forces |
| Objective | Assassinate Saddam Hussein at his uncle's funeral |
| Outcome | Plan cancelled following a training disaster in which 5 Israeli soldiers were killed and 6 others were wounded |
Operation Bramble Bush (Hebrew: מבצע שיח אטד) was an Israeli plan to assassinate Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, in 1992. It was described in full in December 2003 by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth,[1] but news reports had circulated about the plot since January 1999.[2] The plan was conceived as retaliation for Iraqi Scud missile attacks during the Gulf War.[3] Another motivation was the postwar revelation by UN inspectors that Iraq had been a few years away from potential nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons capability as well as the missile capability to hit Israel, and the fear that Hussein would continue trying to develop such capabilities.[4] The plan was called off after five commandos were accidentally killed during the final rehearsal for the operation; the accident is known in Israel as the Tze'elim Bet disaster (אסון צאלים ב').
Plan
[edit]IDF Chief of Staff Ehud Barak persuaded Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and then his successor Yitzhak Rabin to approve an operation to assassinate Saddam Hussein. In January 1992, he formed a team headed by Amiram Levin to examine ways Saddam could be assassinated. Various schemes were considered, among them crashing an Israeli plane or satellite in Iraq and then blowing it up when Hussein came to inspect it, creating a European straw company to sell him a new modern television studio from which he could broadcast his speeches and blowing it up as he broadcast, and detonating a booby-trapped monument as he stood before it at a memorial ceremony.[4]
When Saddam's uncle, Khairallah Talfah, was discovered to be terminally ill, the Israelis decided to ambush the funeral party at the family's plot at the cemetery in Tikrit, as it was the only place outside of well-guarded Baghdad where it would surely be Saddam himself and not a body double. The Israelis closely followed Talfah's treatment in Jordan. When it was decided that he was taking too long to die, a plan was conceived for the Mossad to assassinate Barzan al-Tikriti, Saddam's half-brother who was then the Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations, and ambush Saddam at his funeral instead.[4]
Under the plan, a commando team from the Israeli Army's elite Sayeret Matkal unit was to be inserted into Iraq by helicopter some distance away, travel to the cemetery in jeeps disguised to look like Iraqi Army vehicles and fitted with missile launchers, and kill Saddam with TV-guided "Midras" missiles.[5][6][7][4]
Sayeret Matkal commandos drilled for the operation with a replica of the Hussein family's cemetery at the infantry training base near kibbutz Tze'elim in the Negev. When the commandos were declared ready, a rehearsal for the operation led by Doron Kempel was held for senior IDF commanders on November 5, 1992.[4][6] Ehud Barak was among those in attendance.[3] The operation's execution was planned for just two days away.
Training accident
[edit]The members of the hit team drilled with live missiles, while members of the unit's intelligence and administrative staff played the part of Saddam and his entourage. The commandos fired live rounds at a convoy simulating the target after mistaking a "dry run", where a soldier posed as Saddam waving at crowds, for a "wet run", where Saddam's part was replaced by a mannequin due to weariness from the training as well as poor planning to the point where the same code word was used for both a "dry" and "wet" run. As a result, the commandos fired two missiles at their fellow soldiers simulating Saddam and his convoy, one of which hit the middle of the convoy while the other landed a few yards away. Five soldiers were killed and six wounded.[8][4]
The plan was cancelled. Israeli press reports described the incident as a "training accident."[9] Israeli censors tried to prevent Israeli newspapers from publishing the fact that the head of military intelligence, Uri Sagi, had witnessed the accident, but the censors relented a few weeks later.[10] On November 24, the American newspaper The Miami Herald reported that the soldiers involved in the accident had been rehearsing a plan to kill Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.[11] The New York Times, The Times, and the Independent also reported on the apparent attempt against Nasrallah, and the Israeli military censor complained the reporters from all newspapers involved had violated censorship laws.[12]
Aftermath
[edit]Seven years later, Operation Bramble Bush II once again targeted Saddam. Mossad agents had scouted locations in Iraq for the ambush of the Iraqi leader. However, as before, the plan was scrapped, this time because of both the British-American Operation Desert Fox and concerns that the operation could harm the Arab–Israeli peace process.[2][13]
References
[edit]- ^ Israel's Secret Plan to Kill Saddam ABC News, Jan. 11, 2004.
- ^ a b Correspondent, J. (January 22, 1999). "Report says Israel dumped plan to assassinate Saddam".
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ a b "Israel reveals post Gulf war plan to assassinate, shelved after drill blunder".
- ^ a b c d e f Bergman, Ronen: Rise and Kill First, p. 358-361
- ^ "Israelis dropped assassination plan after practice run ended in disaster" by Toby Harnden, Telegraph. Dec. 17, 2003.
- ^ a b Mossad plot to assassinate Saddam January 1999. Accessed April 3, 2010. Archived June 20, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Michael Goodspeed (2002). When Reason Fails: Portraits of Armies at War : America, Britain, Israel, and the Future. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 128. ISBN 978-0275973780.
- ^ "Secret Protocols Reveal: Yitzhak Rabin Approved an Israeli Operation to Kill Saddam Hussein". Haaretz.
- ^ "Five Soldiers Killed, Six Injured In Training Mishap." The Associated Press, November 5, 1992.
- ^ "Censor lifts ban on general's role in accident." UPI, November 23, 1992.
- ^ Rotem, Michael. "US PAPER: TZE'ELIM EXERCISE WAS PRELUDE TO NASRALLAH KILLING." The Jerusalem Post, November 25, 1992.
- ^ "Israel's Censor Upbraids 4 Foreign Reporters." The New York Times, November 26, 1992.
- ^ "AFIO | Weekly Intelligence Notes". www.afio.com.