New thriller Munich has failed to spark an expected 'political firestorm' due to the sensitive nature of its storyline, Guardian Unlimited says.

The film tells the story of the aftermath of the 1972 Munich Olympics murder of 11 Israeli athletes, when the Israelis were said to have sent out a squad to murder the Palestinian group responsible. It stars Eric Bana and Daniel Craig, and is regarded as a possible Oscar contender.

The Israeli government has never officially admitted this, and staff close to Spielberg were apparently expected an "Israeli tirade." They were surprised by the reaction they got - Israeli consul general Ehud Danoch merely shrugged and said: "It's a Hollywood movie."

However, the New York Times said that Danoch took issue with Spielberg's suggestion that the killings were morally equal, and repeated Israel's denial of the secret mission.