Meir Amit
1921 -
Israeli business executive, former director of Military Intelligence and head of the Mossad.
Born in Mandatory Palestine, Meir Amit joined the Haganah underground in 1936 and rose in its ranks. He commanded a regiment in the 1948 Arab - Israel War and made the army his career. From 1949 to 1951 he commanded the Golani Infantry Brigade, and later served as head of the Instruction and Southern Commands. During the 1956 Sinai - Suez War he served as chief of military operations of the Israel Defense Force (IDF) General Staff. In 1958 he commanded the Central Command, but a parachuting accident hospitalized him for a year. From 1959 to 1961 he studied economics and business at Columbia University and in May 1961 was appointed director of military intelligence. In March 1963, following the resignation of Isser Harel, he was appointed head of the Mossad, a position he held for five years. He was instrumental in strengthening ties with the Kurdish rebels in Iraq and with the Morocccan and Iranian intelligence services. He also modernized the Mossad.
On the eve of the Arab - Israel War of 1967 he was sent to Washington to ascertain America's intentions. In a meeting with U.S. defense secretary Robert McNamara, Amit realized the United States had no plan of action to relieve the seige of Israel and would not be averse to Israel's launch of a preemptive strike, a move he strongly urged the Israeli cabinet to adopt. When Amit asked MacNamara what he would do if he were in Amit's place, MacNamara said, "Go home, that's where you belong." Israel launched its strike two days after Amit's return from the United States.
Amit retired from the Mossad in 1968 and headed Koor Industries until 1977. That year he was a founding member of the Democratic Movement for Change, a centrist party seeking electoral reform. Elected to the Knesset in 1977, he served briefly as transport minister in the first Menachem Begin government. He resigned his post in September 1978, claiming that Begin was not doing enough to bring about peace with Egypt. Later he realized his mistake, when Begin and Anwar al-Sadat signed a peace treaty in 1979. Since 1978 he has held managerial posts in various high-technology industries in Israel and has written two autobiographical books.
Bibliography
Oren, Michael B. Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East. New York: Ballantine, 2003.
Raviv, Dan, and Melman, Yossi. Every Spy a Prince: The Complete History of Israel's Intelligence Community. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
— MARTIN MALIN UPDATED BY MERON MEDZINI
