Israelis plotted to assassinate Hussein

JERUSALEM — The revelation that Israel plotted to kill Saddam Hussein at the funeral of a beloved uncle resolved an enduring mystery and infuriated current military chiefs who worry loose talk is harming Israel’s security.

So-called Operation Bramble Bush, the plot to assassinate Hussein with a missile attack, was shelved in 1992 after five elite commandos were killed training for the mission.

Rumors had circulated for years that the training accident was linked to plans to kill Hussein, but military censors suppressed publication until Tuesday, three days after U.S. forces captured the former dictator.

Israeli security officials were furious about the revelation.

"There are things that are best left unsaid for security reasons, and should not be told to the whole world in an irresponsible fashion," military chief Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon said.

Israeli newspapers published details of the plot Tuesday, and officials involved in the planning spoke about it for the first time in radio and television interviews.

The Israeli plot was born after Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles at the Jewish state in the 1991 Gulf War. Bowing to U.S. pressure, the military did not retaliate, even though officials believed killing Hussein would restore Israel’s damaged credibility.

As prime minister in 1992, Yitzhak Rabin oversaw the later stages of the assassination plot.

Nadav Zeevi, an Israeli intelligence officer at the time, said on Tuesday he was asked in the spring of 1992 to gather information on Hussein and propose a time and place for attack.

Zeevi said he learned that Hussein’s maternal uncle and father-in-law, Khairallah Tulfah, was dying of diabetes, having lost both legs to the disease. Officials hatched a plan to kill Hussein when he attended what Israel believed would be Tulfah’s impending funeral.

The job was given in October 1992 to Sayeret Matkal, an elite commando unit that had carried out other daring operations, including the 1976 raid that freed Israeli hostages from a hijacked plane in Entebbe, Uganda.

The Israeli daily newspaper Yediot Ahronot said commandos would be flown into Iraq and split into two groups. The advance unit would head to the Hussein family cemetery outside Tikrit, and a second group would deploy eight miles away.

The front unit would watch the funeral from 150 yards away, and signal to the soldiers farther back to fire a barrage of missiles on Hussein, Yediot reporter Ronen Bergman said. The custom-made missiles were named Obelisk, the Maariv daily said.

After the assassination, the commandos were to be flown out of Iraq on a plane that would take off from a temporary airfield.

On Nov. 5, 1992, the commandos staged a dress rehearsal in the Negev Desert.

As part of the exercise, commandos were to fire a dummy missile at soldiers playing the roles of Hussein and his bodyguards. A live missile was used by mistake, and five soldiers were killed. Six were wounded.

The plan to kill Hussein was shelved after the accident. Maariv said Hussein attended his uncle’s funeral as predicted.