Israel competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, which began on August 26. On September 5 and 6, in the Munich massacre, 11 members of the Israeli delegation—5 athletes, 2 referees, and 4 coaches (names bolded on this page)—were taken hostage by Palestine Liberation Organization terrorists and murdered. The remainder of the team left Munich on September 7.

Shaul Ladany, a Holocaust survivor, competed in the 50-kilometer walk. He had been imprisoned in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp as a child, and wore a Star of David on his warm-up jersey. When he was congratulated by locals on his fluent German, he responded: "I learned it in Bergen-Belsen". He survived the Munich massacre by jumping off a balcony.

Results

Name	Sport	Event	Placing	Performance
Shaul Ladani	Athletics	Men's 50 km walk	19	4:24:38.6 (also entered for 20 km walk, but did not start)
Esther Shahamorov	Athletics	Women's 100 m	Semifinal (5th)	11.49
		Women's 100 m hurdles	Semifinal	Did not start (left Munich before the semifinal)
Dan Alon	Fencing	Men's foil	Second round	W5–L5 (1R 3-2, 2R 2-3)
Yehuda Weissenstein	Fencing	Men's foil	Second round	W2–L8 (1R 2-3, 2R 0-5)
Yair Michaeli	Sailing	Flying Dutchman	23	28-22-22-19-25-19-DNS = 171 pts (left Kiel before 7th race)
Itzhak Nir
Henry Hershkowitz	Shooting	50 metre rifle prone	23	593/600
		50 metre rifle three positions	46	1114/1200
Zelig Shtroch	Shooting	50 metre rifle prone	57	589/600
Shlomit Nir	Swimming	Women's 100 m breaststroke	Heats (8th)	1:20.90
		Women's 200 m breaststroke	Heats (6th)	2:53.60
David Berger	Weightlifting	Light-heavyweight <82.5 kg	—	J:132.5 C:122.5 S:— T:—
Ze'ev Friedman	Weightlifting	Bantamweight <56 kg	12	J:102.5 C:102.5 S:125 T:330
Yossef Romano	Weightlifting	Middleweight <75 kg	—	Retired injured on third attempt to press 137.5 kg
Gad Tsobari	Wrestling	Freestyle — Light Flyweight <48 kg	Group stage	0W–2L
Eliezer Halfin	Wrestling	Freestyle — Lightweight <68 kg	Group stage	1W–2L
Mark Slavin	Wrestling	Greco-Roman — Middleweight <82 kg	—	Did not start (taken hostage before his scheduled event)

Referees

The following nominated referees and judges were in the delegation:

• Yossef Gutfreund — wrestling
• Yakov Springer – weightlifting

Coaches and officials

The following coaches and officials were in the delegation:

• Shmuel Lalkin — Chef De Mission
• Micha Shamban — presumably deputy of Chef De Mission
• Eliyahu Friedlender - sailing team manager
• Amitzur Shapira — athletics coach
• Kehat Shorr — shooting coach
• Tuvia Sokolovsky — weightlifting coach
• Andre Spitzer — fencing coach
• Moshe Weinberg — wrestling coach
• Itzhac Aldubi - chairman of ASA (Academic Sport Association)
• Werner Nachmann
• Duel Parrack
• Josef Szwec
• Kurt Weigl