Israel’s Herzog Travels to Germany for 1972 Olympics Memorial

Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks as he meets with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (not seen) in London, Britain, November 23, 2021. Justin Tallis/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks as he meets with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (not seen) in London, Britain, November 23, 2021. Justin Tallis/Pool via REUTERS
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Israel’s Herzog Travels to Germany for 1972 Olympics Memorial

Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks as he meets with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (not seen) in London, Britain, November 23, 2021. Justin Tallis/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks as he meets with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (not seen) in London, Britain, November 23, 2021. Justin Tallis/Pool via REUTERS

Israeli President Isaac Herzog departed Sunday for Germany, where he will attend a memorial for 11 Israeli athletes killed by Palestinian militants at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

"I am leaving this morning on a state visit to Germany, at the invitation of the President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier," Herzog said in a statement.

"The main part of the visit will be the memorial marking the 50-year anniversary of the terrible massacre of the 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972," he added.

The president's trip to Munich follows a last-minute compensation deal reached last week between Germany and the families of the Israeli victims.

The bereaved relatives were offered $28 million by Berlin, in addition to $4.5 million previously granted.

Around 70 family members of victims are due to attend Monday's memorial, Ankie Spitzer, whose husband Andre Spitzer was killed, told AFP.

The Israel Olympic Committee confirmed it would send a delegation to the September 5 memorial.

It will mark 50 years since gunmen from the Palestinian militant group Black September stormed the Israeli team's lodgings.

They shot two people dead and took nine others hostage, all of whom were killed. Germany was blamed for botching an operation to rescue them.

Steinmeier's office has not said whether the president will make a formal apology during the ceremony at Fuerstenfeldbruck air base, west of Munich, where the hostage-taking reached its violent end.

During his three-day visit to Germany, Herzog is also due to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz and address parliament in Berlin.



Polls Open in Iran Runoff Election

A view of a ballot box for the run-off presidential election between Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili in Tehran, Iran, July 5, 2024.  Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
A view of a ballot box for the run-off presidential election between Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili in Tehran, Iran, July 5, 2024. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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Polls Open in Iran Runoff Election

A view of a ballot box for the run-off presidential election between Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili in Tehran, Iran, July 5, 2024.  Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
A view of a ballot box for the run-off presidential election between Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili in Tehran, Iran, July 5, 2024. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iranians are voting in a runoff election on Friday to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi. Voters will choose between hard-line former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian, who has aligned himself with those seeking a return to the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Raisi was killed in a May helicopter crash in the country's northwest along with the foreign minister and several other officials.

After a record-low turnout in the first round of voting June 28, it remains unclear how many Iranians will take part in Friday’s poll. Iranian law requires that a runoff if no one candidate gets more than 50% of all votes cast in the first round.

Voter turnout has plunged over the past four years, which critics say shows support for the system has eroded amid growing public discontent over economic hardship and curbs on political and social freedoms.
Only 48% of voters participated in the 2021 election that brought Raisi to power, and turnout was 41% in a parliamentary election in March.

Jalili, 58, served as Iran’s top nuclear negotiator under former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from 2007 to 2013. His hard-line vision for Iran has been criticized by opponents as being like the “Taliban” and risks inflaming public tensions after years of economic hardship and mass protests.

Pezeshkian, 69, has allied himself with relatively moderate elements of Iran’s political system, including former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who helped reach Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Pezeshkian is a heart surgeon and a longtime lawmaker from Tabriz in northwestern Iran. Jalili supporters have criticized Pezeshkian's campaign for fear-mongering, while Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has issued a veiled warning about outreach to the US.