An agreement has been reached in the dispute over German compensation payments to the families of the Israeli victims of the 1972 Olympics attack in Munich between the relatives of the eleven Olympic athletes murdered by Palestinian terrorists and the German government. This was announced on Wednesday by former Interior Minister Gerhart Baum (FDP) of the German Press Agency. The lawyer, together with colleagues from a Düsseldorf law firm, represented the bereaved in the negotiations. “The agreement also enables a dignified commemoration on September 5 in the presence of Presidents Izchak Herzog and Frank-Walter Steinmeier and, above all, in the presence of the bereaved who have agreed to take part in the celebration under the new circumstances,” Baum explained. The agreement does not only contain material and immaterial recognition services. “It is just as important for the relatives to come to terms with what happened at the time – now with disclosure of all sources.”
According to reports, Germany will pay a total of 28 million euros to the relatives. At least 20 million of these should come from the federal government, with the state of Bavaria and the city of Munich wanting to contribute the rest. The relatives now want to travel to the official commemoration ceremony at the Fürstenfeldbruck air base next Monday.
According to German government circles, there have been intensive talks with the lawyers of the victims’ families in the past few days. An amicable solution is “a very high priority,” said an official familiar with the negotiations. On Tuesday evening, an agreement was finally reached that would avoid a scandal at the last moment. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog are also expected to attend the commemoration on Monday. However, the latter should not arrive if the bereaved, as announced weeks ago, boycott the ceremony. In Berlin, a mid-single-digit million amount had been considered for the relatives – there was talk of 5.4 million euros. The bereaved had rejected this as a “tip” and “insulting”. Their demands, which are based on internationally customary compensation amounts, were originally much higher, reportedly around ten million euros for each of the eleven murdered Israelis. “The almost 30 million is an acceptable compromise for both sides,” said Bavarian government circles.
The relatives argue that there were serious omissions and errors on the part of the German security forces both before the attack and during the final police operation at the Fürstenfeldbruck air base, which cost the lives of the eleven athletes and a German police officer. Adequate financial compensation would be a signal that the Federal Republic is taking responsibility for this failure for the first time in 50 years, Ankie Spitzer, spokeswoman for the bereaved and widow of the murdered fencing coach Andrei Spitzer, has long insisted.
Federal President Steinmeier is said to be planning to commission a German-Israeli historians’ commission to deal with the events in full on the occasion of the anniversary. Steinmeier also wanted to apologize for the German failure, as the first representative of the Federal Republic ever. What was planned as a conciliatory gesture threatens to fail due to the compensation dispute.
Conversations in Meseberg
In the past few weeks it has looked as if the demands of the relatives and the offer of the federal government could no longer be reconciled. The Federal Ministry of the Interior in particular had argued that the ratios to other compensation payments, for example after the terrorist attack on Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz, had to be taken into account. The chancellor’s office, however, referred to the impending damage in the event that an agreement is not reached. On Tuesday, on the sidelines of the cabinet meeting in Meseberg, the Federal Chancellery and the departments involved, the Interior and Justice Ministries and the Foreign Office, discussed the new offer again. The fact that the relatives had made an offer that also included the lawyer’s fees obviously played an important role. Their interests are represented by a Dutch and now also by a German law firm.
topic in Israeli media
The high-circulation Israeli newspaper reported on Tuesday morning Yedioth Achronoth citing high-ranking Israeli representatives that Germany is prepared to “significantly increase” what it offers to the victims’ families. By how much was not said in the Israeli report. Ankie Spitzer confirmed to the SZ that negotiations are currently taking place at the “highest level” in order to find a solution before the commemoration. The German side wanted to “prevent embarrassment,” she said. However, the Israeli media reports about a concrete and increased German offer are “nonsense”https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/.”We have made it very clear what our absolute minimum is, now the German side has to make a final decision “Spitzer said. “You owe us just compensation and I will not allow Germany to make beggars out of us.”