The rapid surrender to the Lufthansa hijackers triggered one of the most enduring political controversies surrounding the Munich massacre. Israel accused Chancellor Willy Brandt's government of capitulating to terrorism, while Prime Minister Golda Meir said the release was an insult demonstrating that the human spirit had surrendered to “brutal force.” Critics suspected that Bonn had used the hijacking to remove three dangerous prisoners who had become a security burden and to protect West Germany's expanding commercial and diplomatic interests in the Arab world. Suspicion was fueled by the unusually small number of passengers, the speed with which the prisoners were released, prior warnings that an aircraft seizure was imminent, and the chaotic but highly effective movement of the militants from German custody to Zagreb and then Libya. Abu Daoud, the alleged mastermind of the Munich operation, later claimed that “the Germans” had offered him $9 million to stage the release, while former Mossad chief Zvi Zamir said in 2006 that he believed some form of German–Black September agreement existed. The 1999 documentary One Day in September also presented the event as a government-backed setup, citing comments by Black September survivor Jamal Al-Gashey and counter-terrorism expert Ulrich Wegener. However, no definitive proof of a prearranged bargain has emerged. A competing explanation is that the operation was improvised under extreme pressure: officials issued conflicting orders, Culmann and consul Laqueur took unauthorized actions, and the aircraft repeatedly approached fuel starvation. The controversy remains unresolved, but the episode permanently damaged West Germany's image in Israel and became a landmark example of how governments respond when hostage rescue risks producing another massacre.
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