Michael Gurdus

Michael "Mickey" Gurdus (born November 9, 1944 in Tel Aviv ; † November 28, 2017 in Jehud ) was an Israeli journalist and wiretapping specialist . He became known in Germany because his indiscretion jeopardized the liberation of the hijacked Lufthansa plane Landshut .

Life

Gurdus took over his interest in radio technology from his father, who in the 1920s was evaluating radio programs and Morse code news for a London newspaper in Warsaw . Gurdu's parents fled to Palestine in 1939 . Gurdus studied Oriental Studies and Political Science at Tel Aviv University . From 1968 to 2014 he supervised international radio traffic as well as foreign radio and television stations for the Israeli radio authority. It benefited him that he spoke five languages. In the course of his work, he succeeded in making a series of spectacular revelations, which often received international attention through the Israeli media.

In 1968, Gurdus was the first to learn of an Israeli commando operation against Beirut Airport , in which Israeli paratroopers blew up 14 passenger planes.

During the Yom Kippur War , Gurdus watched Israeli prisoners of war being shown on Egyptian television . The military was able to identify many soldiers reported dead or missing. During the coup in Cyprus in 1974 he prevented the assassination of the head of state, Archbishop Makarios III. in which he intercepted a radio message from him and British soldiers were able to save him. In the same year, during the Watergate affair , Gurdus overheard a telephone conversation from Alexander M. Haig , White House chief of staff , instructing him not to give out telephone tapes to investigators.

Gurdus was the first to report the hijacking of an Air France plane to Entebbe , which ended with the hostages being freed by an Israeli military operation. During the hijacking of the Landshut , Gurdus bugged the radio traffic of the German authorities, their aircraft and the GSG 9 . Israeli television then reported the planned liberation operation four hours before it began. This put their success in jeopardy. Political pressure from the federal government prevented the news from spreading further. Chancellor Helmut Schmidt called Gurdus a "huge asshole" because of the indiscretion.

Web links

Obituary in the New York Times , December 8, 2017.
Obituary of the Jerusalem Post , November 29, 2017 (English).
Obituary by the dpa in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung , November 28, 2017.

Individual evidence

^ Ofer Aderet: Mickey Gurdus, Israeli snooper into foreign broadcasts, dies at 73. In: haaretz.com. November 28, 2017, accessed December 19, 2017 .
↑ Radio traffic: against the rules . In: Der Spiegel . No. 44 , 1977 ( online - Oct. 24, 1977 ).
^ Joel Greenberg: Eavesdropping on the world from a tiny room in Tel Aviv. In: The Christian Science Monitor . August 29, 1985, retrieved on December 19, 2017 (Portrait of Gurdus).
^ Klaus Wiegrefe : New documents on the Landshut kidnapping: Lies among friends. In: Spiegel Online . September 29, 2008, accessed December 19, 2017 .

personal data
SURNAME	Gurdus, Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Gurdus, Mickey (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Israeli journalist and wiretapping specialist
DATE OF BIRTH	November 9, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH	Tel Aviv
DATE OF DEATH	November 28, 2017
Place of death	Yehud

[1] Ofer Aderet: Mickey Gurdus, Israeli snooper into foreign broadcasts, dies at 73. In: haaretz.com. November 28, 2017, accessed December 19, 2017 .

[2] Radio traffic: against the rules . In: Der Spiegel . No. 44 , 1977 ( online - Oct. 24, 1977 ).

[3] Joel Greenberg: Eavesdropping on the world from a tiny room in Tel Aviv. In: The Christian Science Monitor . August 29, 1985, retrieved on December 19, 2017 (Portrait of Gurdus).

[4] Klaus Wiegrefe : New documents on the Landshut kidnapping: Lies among friends. In: Spiegel Online . September 29, 2008, accessed December 19, 2017 .