India needs 'Operation Wrath of God', says top US analyst. Here’s what Israel did in 1972

Amid surging tensions between India and Pakistan, top U.S. security analyst Michael Rubin has urged New Delhi to adopt a long-term counterterrorism playbook modeled on Israel’s covert response to the 1972 Munich massacre.

Rubin, in an interview to NDTV, endorsed India’s ongoing Operation Sindoor, adding that Delhi should also consider the methodical global manhunt launched by Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir after the Munich Olympics, in which 11 Israeli athletes were killed by the Palestinian terror group Black September.

“Israel quietly, over subsequent years, went out anywhere in the world to eliminate the terrorists,” Rubin said. “I do think Prime Minister Modi needs to take a playbook out of the late Golda Meir of Israel's hands.”

Following a recent attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam—where 26 civilians were gunned down by Pakistan-linked terrorists—Prime Minister Modi warned that India would pursue terrorists “to the ends of the Earth.” Victims were reportedly forced to prove their faith before being shot, in a religiously motivated assault claimed by The Resistance Front, a Lashkar-e-Taiba proxy.

Rubin cautioned that terror groups often exploit the lull created by diplomacy. “While diplomats scramble for quiet, the terrorists regroup,” he said, drawing parallels to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. “We can’t simply have a pattern in which Pakistan strikes out with its proxy terrorists.”

While praising India's restraint and precision, Rubin criticized delays in launching Operation Sindoor. “India is acting very deliberately, very precisely. Pakistan seems to be flailing,” he said. He added that Pakistan’s denials of involvement are hollow: “If Pakistan truly wants to maintain the fiction that it is not a terror sponsor, it needs to close the terror camps and extradite every terrorist—even if they wear a military uniform.”