Mossad
For the Haganah branch responsible for clandestine Jewish immigration into the British Mandate of Palestine, see Mossad Le'aliyah Bet (
Hebrew: "מוס" למו"יעין ולתפקי"ים מיוח"ים,
The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations) is an
Israeli
intelligence agency, often referred to as
Mossad (in English:
The Institute). It is responsible for
intelligence collection,
counter-terrorism, and
covert action, including paramilitary activities. It is one of the three main
Intelligence Community entities in Israel, alongside
Aman (
military intelligence) and
Shabak (internal security). Its role and function is like that of the
CIA (USA) and
MI6 (UK).
The Mossad was formed in
December 1949 as the "Central Institute for Coordination", at the recommendation of
Reuven Shiloah to
Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. Shiloah wanted a central body to coordinate and improve cooperation between the existing security services " the army's intelligence department (AMAN), the General Security Service (GSS or "Shabak") and the foreign offices "political department". In
March 1951, it was reorganized and made a part of the prime minister's office, reporting directly to the prime minister. Its current staff is estimated at approximately 1,200. Its motto is
be-'éyn tahbūlōt yīpōl `ām; ū-teshū`āh be-rōv yo'éts (, "Where no counsel is, the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety." - Proverbs XI, 14) [
1]
Structure
From its headquarters in the Israeli capital of Tel Aviv, the Mossad oversees a staff estimated at approximately 3000 personnel. It is assumed to consist of many different departments, of which the largest is Collections, tasked with many aspects of analyzing espionage overseas. Employees in the Collections Department operate under a variety of covers, some as diplomatic, municipal or even private sector workers.
The Political Action and Liaison Department is responsible for working both with allied foreign intelligence services, and with nations that have no normal diplomatic relations with Israel.
Among the departments of Mossad is the Special Operations Division or 'Metsada', whom are involved in assassination, paramilitary operations, sabotage, and psychological warfare.
Psychological warfare is also a concern of the Lohamah Psichlogit Department, which conducts propaganda and deception activities as well.
Additionally, Mossad has a Research Department, tasked with intelligence production, and a Technology Department concerned with the development of tools for Mossad activities.
High profile operations
The Mossad's many endeavors in serving Israel's security interests have earned Mossad a reputation for being extremely effective as an intelligence agency. Controversy exists over cases where it has employed the tactics of
kidnapping and
assassination.
Successful operations
*Located and captured
Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann. In 1960, Mossad discovered that Eichmann was in
Argentina and, through
surveillance, they confirmed that he had been living there under the name of Ricardo Klement. The Israeli government approved an operation to capture Eichmann and bring him to
Jerusalem for trial as a war criminal. He was captured by a team of Mossad agents on
May 11,
1960, as part of a covert operation.
* Assisted in the
defection and rescuing the family of
Munir Redfa, an
Iraqi pilot who defected and flew his
MiG 21 to Israel.
* Provided key intelligence on the
Egyptian Air Force for
Operation Focus, the opening airstrike of the
Six-Day War.
* Assassination of those responsible for the
Munich massacre at the
1972 Olympic Games, called "
Operation Wrath of God".
* Intelligence and operational assistance in 1973
Operation Spring of Youth.
* Provided intelligence for Israeli military operations, thousands of miles away from Israel, for instance, for
Operation Entebbe in 1976.
* Assisted in
Operation Moses, the immigration of
Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
* Obtained highly sensitive information about Iraq's
Osirak nuclear reactor, subsequently destroyed by
an Israeli airstrike in 1981.
* Abducted
Mordechai Vanunu in
Italy 1986.[
2]
* Assassination of
Fathi Shqaqi, the head of
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in 1995 (probable).
* Assassination of
Abu Jihad from the
Fatah in 1988 (probable).
* Alleged assassination of
Canadian scientist
Gerald Bull, developer of the Iraqi
supergun. While he was working on the
Scud project, someone started "warning" him to stop working on the missiles. Over a period of a few months, his apartment was broken into several times, but nothing was stolen. He nevertheless continued to work on the project. In March 1990, he was shot five times in the back of the neck while opening his door. The most common theory is that Mossad was responsible, and its representatives have all but claimed responsibility for his
murder. Others, including Bull's son, believe that the Mossad is taking credit for an act they did not commit to scare off others who may try to help enemy regimes. The alternative theory is that Bull was killed by the CIA. Iraq and
Iran are also candidates for suspicion.
[Dr. Gerald Bull: Scientist, Weapons Maker, Dreamer at CBC.ca]* Procured French
Mirage III plans, leading to the development of the
Kfir.
* Acquired French patrol boats, which were paid for by the Israeli government, but were not delivered due to an arms embargo.
Failed operations
*In
July 1973,
Ahmed Bouchiki, an innocent
Moroccan waiter in
Lillehammer,
Norway, was killed while walking with his
pregnant wife. He had been mistaken for
Ali Hassan Salameh, one of the leaders of
Black September, the
Palestinian group responsible for the
Munich massacre, who had been given shelter in Norway. The Mossad agents had used fake
Canadian passports, which angered the Canadian government. Six Mossad agents were arrested, and the incident became known as the
Lillehammer affair.
*In 1981, fake
British passports were discovered in a grocery bag in
London, leading to a diplomatic row with Israel over Mossad involvement in an attempt to infiltrate
China.
*In 1997, two Mossad agents were caught in
Jordan, which had signed a peace treaty with Israel, on a mission to assassinate Sheikh
Khaled Mashal, a leader of
Hamas, by injecting him with
poison at a pro-Hamas rally in
Amman. Again, they were using fake Canadian passports. This led to a diplomatic row with Canada and Jordan, and Israel was forced to provide the poison
antidote and release around 70 Palestinian prisoners, in particular the Hamas leader Sheikh
Ahmed Yassin, in exchange for the Mossad agents, who would otherwise have faced the
death penalty for
attempted murder. In
March 2004, seven years after he was released, Yassin was killed in an Israeli helicopter airstrike.
*In
July 2004,
New Zealand imposed
diplomatic sanctions on Israel over an incident in which two Israelis, Uriel Kelman and Eli Cara, who were allegedly working for Mossad, attempted to obtain New Zealand passports fraudulently. Israeli Foreign Minister
Silvan Shalom later apologized to New Zealand for their actions. New Zealand cancelled several other passports believed to have been obtained by Israeli agents. [
3] Both Kelman and Cara served half of their six month sentences and, upon release, were
deported to Israel. Two others, an Israeli, Ze'ev Barkan, and a New Zealander, David Reznick, are believed to have been the third and fourth men involved in the passport affair but managed to leave New Zealand before being traced.
Mossad is headquartered in
Tel Aviv and has eight departments:
* Collections Department is the largest, with responsibility for espionage operations.
* Political Action and Liaison Department conducts political activities and liaison with friendly foreign intelligence services and with nations with which Israel does not have normal diplomatic relations.
* Special Operations Division (
Metsada) conducts
assassination,
sabotage, and
paramilitary projects.
* LAP (Lohamah Psichologit) Department is responsible for
psychological warfare,
propaganda and deception operations.
* Research Department is responsible for intelligence synthesis.
* Technology Department is responsible for development of technologies to support Mossad operations.
Mossad is a civilian service, and does not use
military ranks, although most of its staff have served in the
Israel Defense Forces as part of Israel's compulsory draft system, and many of them are
officers.
*
Reuven Shiloah, 1951-1952
*
Isser Harel, 1952-1963
*
Meir Amit, 1963-1968
*
Zvi Zamir, 1968-1974
*
Yitzhak Hofi, 1974-1982
*
Nahum Admoni, 1982-1990
*
Shabtai Shavit, 1990-1996
*
Danny Yatom, 1996-1998
*
Ephraim Halevy, 1998-2002
*
Meir Dagan, 2002-Present
*
Munich - The movie is set after the 1972
Munich massacre and follows a
Mossad squad, led by "Avner" (
Eric Bana), which is ordered to track down and kill 11
Black September members thought to be responsible for the
Israeli athletes' murders.
*
NCIS - Starting with the third season, NCIS added a character
Ziva David, who is a former agent for Mossad.
*
Numbers station*
By Way of Deception by
Victor Ostrovsky*
RAW and Mossad*
Official website*
The Indian Research and Analysis Wing ("RAW") and The Israeli Mossad - the Secret Link *
GlobalSecurity.org entry for Mossad*
isayeret.com - The Israeli Special Forces Database
*
The Israeli Intelligence Services; Deception and Covert Action Operations
