During the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, eleven Israeli athletes are taken hostage and murdered by a Palestinian terrorist group known as Black September. In retaliation, the Israeli government recruits a group of Mossad agents to track down and execute those responsible for the attack. The movie recounts their brutal acts, but much more important, their Jewish ambivalence toward these acts. Some general reflections are in order.

First, Golda Meir, former Israeli Prime Minister, once said to Egyptian President Anwar Saddat just before Israeli-Egyptian peace talks: