Sword of Gideon 1986

Avner, Steven Bauer, a skilled Israeli military officer, is pulled from active duty when Prime Minister Colleen Dewhurst Golda Meir asks him to join Mossad, Israel’s covert intelligence service. His father, Mordechai Samuels Rod Steiger, warns him of the risks, but Avner accepts the assignment and becomes the leader of an elite five-man unit tasked with assassinating the Black September terrorists tied to the Munich massacre. Just before they depart, his wife reveals she is pregnant, adding a deeply personal dimension to an already perilous mission.

The undercover team is dispatched to Europe, where most of the terrorists are located, and they begin carrying out killings with firearms and bombs. At first, the operations are impressively effective, and the group earns a reputation for precision and speed. However, the moral weight of their work starts to press in on Avner when he sees the heartbreak left in the wake of their strikes: one target’s wife and daughter are shown crying in a hospital after learning of his death, a sight that unsettles him and prompts growing doubts about the righteousness of their mission.

As the campaign continues, the unit becomes a target themselves, hunted by Black September operatives who respond with equal ruthlessness. The international pursuit intensifies, and over the course of months, Avner’s team suffers heavy losses as spies and assassins collide in a perilous game of cat and mouse. A botched assassination attempt of two targets nearly wipes the group out, and Avner finally petitions to abort the mission; his request is granted, leaving only two survivors standing.

Upon returning to Israel, Avner learns that his Mossad contract is a fixed three-year term, a revelation that pushes him toward breaking away from the agency. He longs to quit and relocate to New York with his wife and infant son, but faces stern resistance from his supervisors. The pressure culminates in a brutal push to keep him within the fold: his boss deducts all the family’s money from his bank account, effectively leaving them broke. Nevertheless, Avner forges a new, modest life, buying and repairing an old apartment and earning a living as a taxi driver.

In the final moments, the story shifts to a more detached vantage as Avner is shown commanding an IDF armored column across the desert. A closing card notes that his career and life eventually lead him back to Israel, where he would command a tank unit during the Yom Kippur War, cementing a complex legacy born from years of clandestine violence and the costs of duty.