Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid tribute to Harari, who died on Sunday (September 21), calling him "one of the great warriors for Israel's security."

Harari, head of  Mossad's special operations division, Caesarea, played a leading in in planning the missions in the aftermath of the Munich attack.

The militants first killed two Israeli athletes at the Olympic Village, then took others hostage in an attempt to flee unharmed.

Nine of the hostages were subsequently killed in a gunbattle between German police and the militants.

Palestinian terrorists killed 11 Israel athletes and officials during the raid on the Olympic Village at Munich 1972 ©Getty Images

The Munich revenge attacks were collectively known as "Operation Wrath of God".

For nearly a decade, Mossad agents targeted Palestinian militants throughout Europe, frequently shooting their victims from close range.

He was responsible for collecting the intelligence leading to the Aviv Ne'urim - Spring of Youth - operation in Beirut in 1973, in which three senior Fatah leaders were killed; and commanded the operation in which Hassan Ali Salameh, a senior member of the Black September organisation, was killed in 1979.

But one target killed was a Moroccan waiter, Ahmed Bouchiki, gunned down in the Norwegian town of Lillehammer in 1973 in a case of mistaken identity.

Norwegian prosecutors indicted Harari for that killing in 1998.

Mike Harari was potrayed by Moshe Ivgy in Steven Spielberg's 2005 film "Munich
©AFP/Getty Images

He was depicted by Israeli actor Moshe Ivgy in Steven Spielberg's 2005 film "Munich," a controversial account of the Operation Wrath of God affair.

Most of the operations Harari commanded in the decade from 1970 to 1980 are still secret.

But it is known that he was also involved in planning Israel's dramatic rescue of hostages held by militants in Entebbe, Uganda, in 1976, another incident that was turned into a film, "Raid on Entebbe".

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