Sword of Gideon

*Sword of Gideon*
Sword of Gideon
	HBO Pictures
Original release
Network	HBO
Release	November 29, 1986

Sword of Gideon is a 1986 Canadian

Michael York. The film is based on the book Vengeance by George Jonas, an account of the incident which has been criticized by some intelligence personnel as fictional, though because of its covert nature is difficult to prove or disprove. In some countries the book was titled Vengeance: Sword of Gideon, from which the movie title is drawn. The story was retold in the 2005 film Munich by Steven Spielberg

.

Plot

Avner, an adept Israeli military officer, is interrupted from his service in the

IDF by a special request from Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir to join Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency. Despite warnings from his father, he agrees to join, and becomes the leader of an elite five-man group assigned to assassinate all of the Black September terrorists involved in the Munich massacre

. Shortly before embarking, however, his wife reveals to him that she is pregnant, to Avner's surprise.

The undercover unit is dispatched to Europe, where most of the terrorists are located, and begin assassinating them via firearms and bombs. Initially, they are very successful, but after Avner witnesses one of their targets' wife and daughter crying in the hospital upon learning of his death, he soon begins to question the morality of his mission.

Eventually, the unit becomes wanted internationally for the assassinations, and spies dispatched by Black September are successful in killing most of Avner's team over the course of several months. After a botched assassination attempt of two targets results in the team almost being wiped out, Avner asks the case officer in charge of the mission to abort, and his request is granted, ending the mission with only two survivors.

Upon returning to Israel, Avner's case officer reveals that his Mossad contract length is three years, prompting him to angrily attempt to quit his job and move to New York with his wife and infant son. There, he is the target of harassment by his case officer, who attempts to convince him to return to Israel and go on another mission for Mossad. Avner refuses, stating that he only wants to join the IDF and become an officer again. His boss flatly rejects the offer, and withdraws all of Avner's money from his bank account as punishment for violating his contract with Mossad, leaving the family completely broke. However, he purchases and repairs an old apartment, and is able to make a modest living as a taxi cab driver.

As the movie ends, Avner can be seen commanding an IDF armored column through the desert, and a paragraph of text explains that he returned to Israel to command his tank unit during the Yom Kippur War.

Cast

Steven Bauer as Avner
Michael York
as Robert
Robert Joy as Hans
Laurent Malet as Jean
Peter Dvorsky as Carl
Rod Steiger as Mordechai Samuels
Lino Ventura as Papa
Colleen Dewhurst as Prime Minister Golda Meir
Leslie Hope as Shoshana
John Hirsch as Avner's Father
Cyrielle Clair as Jeanette Von Lesseps
Linda Griffiths as Carl's Widow
Daniel Alfie as Ali Salameh
Hrant Alianak as Wael Zwaiter
Sonia Benezra as Mrs. Hamshari

Home media

The film was released on VHS by

Alliance Entertainment

)).

External links

Sword of Gideon at
IMDb

Sword of Gideon at AllMovie
Sword of Gideon at Rotten Tomatoes