Mossad

Full name: Ha-Mossad le-Modiin ule-Tafkidim Meyuhadim (The Institute for Intelligence and Special Tasks).
Established on April 1, 1951, the Mossad is the most important of the five Israeli intelligence organizations. It deals with intelligence gathering, counter-terrorism and covert operations in foreign countries. Its director reports directly to the Israeli prime minister and heads a committee that administers the entire Israeli intelligence infrastructure. One of the Mossad's most famous operations was the kidnapping and extradition from Argentina to Israel of Nazi war criminal, Adolf Eichmann in 1960.

Last updated: June 16, 2004.

For more information on Mossad, visit Britannica.com.

Israel's Institute for Intelligence and Special Tasks.

The Mossad is Israel's central intelligence agency, responsible for intelligence collection, covert action, and counterterrorism outside the borders of the state. It was founded in 1951, under orders from Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, by Reuven Shiloah, a senior member of Israel's diplomatic corps. It replaced a number of organizations, including the SHAI (Sherut Yediʿot), the intelligence service of the Haganah, and the political department of the Jewish Agency, which had been created by the political leadership of the Yishuv (Jewish community in Palestine).

Responsibilities and Leadership

The division of functions and the boundaries between the various intelligence agencies had for many years been unclear. The founding of the Mossad left all official and overt diplomatic activities to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; military intelligence, intelligence analysis, and information assessment to the Intelligence Division (Aman) of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF); counterinsurgency and counterespionage inside the country to the Security Service (Shin Bet); and counter-criminal intelligence to the police. All covert activities and espionage abroad were assigned to the Mossad.

The head of the Mossad, whose identity was for many years kept secret, was directly responsible to the prime minister and served as chairman of the coordinating committee of all heads of Israel's intelligence services. In 1952, Shiloah was replaced by Isser Harel, until then the head of the Shin Bet, who went on to serve as director of the Mossad for more than a decade.

Despite formal definitions of the respective realms of activities, it took some years and some internecine struggles among the various services for the exact boundaries to be established. Thus, for example, military intelligence continued to keep a special unit that operated agents across the borders and was responsible for the ill-advised activation, in
the summer of 1954, of its espionage ring in Egypt, which ended in a fiasco that later became known as the Lavon Affair. A public scandal erupted when it was discovered that Harel had ordered the planting of recording devices in the office of the leaders of the left-wing MAPAM Party, which followed a pro-Soviet line, under the false suspicion that MAPAM was implicated in subversive activities. On the other hand, Mossad agents managed in 1956 to obtain the full record of Nikita Khrushchev's famous speech at the Twentieth Congress of the Soviet Communist Party, in which some of the horrors of Stalin's rule were disclosed. This was shared with a grateful CIA in Washington.

Over the years Harel gained great personal influence over some key political leaders. He was also called upon to execute some unconventional and dramatic operations abroad. One such was the discovery and rescue of a boy who had been kidnapped by his ultra-orthodox grandfather, who hid the boy in France in order to bring him up according to strict Orthodox traditions. Harel's most famous operation was the kidnapping of Adolf Eichmann, the high-ranking Nazi SS commander who was responsible for organizing the extermination of many hundreds of thousands of European Jews during World War II. Eichmann was captured in his home in Buenos Aires, smuggled to Israel, tried in Jerusalem, and sentenced to death in 1962.

In 1963, Harel came under severe criticism by David Ben-Gurion for his disproportionate response to the involvement of some ex-Nazi officers in unsuccessful Egyptian attempts to develop long-range missiles and unconventional weapons. He was obliged to resign in the spring of 1963.

Many subsequent heads of the Mossad were army generals who came from the ranks of the IDF. The man who replaced Harel was general Meir Amit, previously the director of military intelligence. Amit served as Mossad's chief from 1963 to 1968. Among his noteworthy activities was a trip to Washington to secure a cautious go-ahead from the Johnson administration before Israel launched its offensive in the June 1967 Arab - Israel War. Subsequent heads of the Mossad were Zvi Zamir (1968 - 1974), Yitzhak Hofi (1974 - 1982), Nahum Admoni (1982 - 1990), Shabtai Shavit (1990 - 1996), Dani Yatom (1996 - 1998), and Ephraim Halevy (1998 - 2003).

International Relationships and Operations

During the 1960s, the Mossad developed close relations with SAVAK, the intelligence service of Iran under the shah, and supported the Kurds in their rebellion against the officers' regime of Baghdad. Over the years, the Mossad managed to capitalize on its widespread image as one of the world's most efficient intelligence agencies and created close relationships with many other national agencies, not the least important of which was that with the CIA.

After the June 1967 war, the Mossad concentrated much of its resources on countering Palestinian terrorist activities. Thus, for example, it assassinated most of the al-Fatah operatives involved in the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Mossad agents also killed Khalil alWazir (Abu Jihad), Yasir Arafat's deputy in charge of military affairs, in his home in Tunis. Over the years, the Mossad also succeeded in placing its spies in a number of high positions in Arab capitals. Some of its successes may not be revealed for many years to come, but the spies who were eventually caught prove the point. The most important such was Eli Cohen, who established himself in Damascus, developed close relations with the Syrian elite, and reported invaluable information back to Israel before he was apprehended and hanged in 1965. Two more outstanding successes added to the towering prestige of the Mossad: the landing of a MiG-21 advanced Soviet combat plane from the Iraqi air force at an Israeli airport in 1966, and the January 1969 whisking away of three missile boats from the French port of Cherbourg, where they had been built for Israel but were being detained under an embargo declared by President Charles de Gaulle after the outbreak of the June 1967 Arab - Israel War.

The Mossad has also been involved in many nonintelligence operations, in particular with regard to clandestine political relations and endangered Jewish communities. Mossad agents undertook secret negotiations with Egyptian, Jordanian, Lebanese, and other Arab leaders long before the first peace treaty was concluded with Egypt in 1979. The Mossad also helped diaspora Jewish communities organize self-defense and was instrumental in the exodus of Ethiopian Jews via Sudan to Israel. It was also responsible for Israel's relations with Lebanese politicians and with Maronite militias, eventually paving the way for the IDF invasion of Lebanon in 1982.

On the eve of the October 1973 war, the Mossad gave the government an early warning of an imminent Egyptian offensive against the Bar-Lev Line, but military intelligence did not take the warning seriously. The failure of military intelligence to make the correct assessment during that war brought about changes in the mandate of Israel's various intelligence agencies. A unit for research and information assessment was added to the Mossad and to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the purpose of cross-assessment and verification.

The Mossad's main functions, and apparently also its main departments, are:

• information collection, utilizing a network of spies and other agents operating in stations around the world
• political action and intelligence liaison
• psychological warfare, propaganda, and dis-information
• research and assessment
• special operations, such as sabotage, assassination, and other activities, especially beyond Israel's borders.

A well-known example of special operations was the failed attempt to assassinate Khalid al-Mashʿal, head of the political bureau of HAMAS in Amman, Jordan. On 4 October 1997, Mossad agents injected Mashʿal with a toxic substance, but his life was saved when, in response to heavy Jordanian and U.S. pressure, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a physician to administer an antidote to the poison. The affair caused not only a sharp deterioration in Israeli - Jordanian relations but also an uproar in Israeli political circles.

In what may signal a decline in its mythical infallibility, the Mossad has been faulted for failing to anticipate the outbreak of the al-Aqsa intifada in September 2000. On the other hand, in recent years senior Mossad officials have been intensively involved in the evolving peace process with the Palestinians. Mossad chiefs Ephraim Halevy and General Dani Yatom (along with Shin Bet's Israel Hasson) began to appear in the media in the unusual roles of unofficial peace negotiators. Since these activities exposed the head of the Mossad to public view, the government decided to make the names of past and future directors public. In 2002, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon nominated his long-time friend General Meir Dagan, who had served in the IDF under him, to replace Ephraim Halevy as Mossad's director.

Bibliography

Bar-Zohar, Michael. Spies in the Promised Land: Iser Harel and the Israeli Secret Service, translated by Monroe Stearns. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1972.

Black, Ian, and Morris, Benny. Israel's Secret Wars: A History of Israel's Intelligence Services, London: Hamish Hamilton, 1991.

Eisenberg, Dennis; Dan, Uri; and Landau, Eli. TheMossad: Israel's Secret Intelligence Service Inside Stories. New York: Signet, 1978.

Eshed, Haggai. Reuven Shiloah: The Man behind the Mossad, translated by David and Leah Zinder. London: Frank Cass, 1997.

Raviv, Dan, and Melman, Yossi. Every Spy a Prince: The Complete History of Israel's Intelligence Community. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990.

— MORDECHAI BAR-ON

Israel's principal agency for intelligence collection, counterterrorism, and covert action is the Institute for Intelligence and Special Tasks, best known as Mossad, an abbreviation of its Hebrew name, ha-Mossad le-Modiin ule-Tafkidim Meyuhadim. In a tiny country surrounded by foes, the Mossad has been extremely active ever since its establishment in 1951. Its successes include the capture of former Nazi leaders, most notably Adolf Eichmann, as well as numerous triumphs of intelligence-gathering that contributed to Israeli victory in the 1967 Six-Day War. Mossad also conducted the legendary raid at Entebbe, Uganda, in which it rescued the passengers and crew of a French jetliner hijacked by Palestinian terrorists. Yet, Mossad has often come under criticism for perceived excessive actions against Israel's many enemies.

History

David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, established Mossad as ha-Mossad Leteum (the Institute for Coordination) on April 1, 1951. Mossad had a checkered record in its first decade. On the positive side, it was the first intelligence agency to capture a copy of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev's February 1956 "Secret Speech," in which he denounced the crimes of Josef Stalin before the 20th Party Congress. Mossad also ran several key operations in Arab lands, with Wolfgang Lotz in Egypt and Eliahu Cohen in Syria.

The Syrians eventually exposed Cohen, however, and hanged him in Damascus Square, while the Egyptians captured, tortured, and imprisoned Lotz in 1964. Meanwhile, another operative in Egypt, David Magen, turned out to be a double agent, and the work of Avraham Dar in Egypt during the mid-1950s ended in a disaster for Israeli intelligence, with numerous agents captured and imprisoned. At least one apparent success of this era turned out to be a political failure when Ben-Gurion reversed Mossad efforts to intimidate West German scientists who were assisting the Egyptians. Eager to develop better relations with West Germany, Ben-Gurion dismissed Mossad director Isser Harel (1952–63), who he had once accorded the title Memuneh, "the one in charge."

1960s and 1970s. Mossad, which gained its present name as the Institute for Intelligence and Special Tasks in 1963, fared much better in the 1960s. Joint operations with Shin Bet, the internal security force, led to the capture of Eichmann—who had overseen the murder of millions of Jews during the Holocaust—from his hiding place in Argentina. Under the leadership of Meir Amit (1963–68), Mossad focused on intelligence-gathering, which greatly aided Israeli military efforts in 1967. During this period, Mossad also assisted the defection of an Iraqi airman who delivered to Israel a Soviet MiG-21 fighter jet in 1963. In 1968, Mossad successfully captured eight missile boats that Israel had ordered from France, but which President Charles de Gaulle had placed under embargo. That year also saw the capture of nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu, who had revealed Israeli nuclear secrets to the British press.

Following the massacre of Israeli athletes by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September at the Munich Olympics in 1972, Mossad directed an assassination effort under an action team dubbed "the Wrath of God" (WOG). Over the next two years, WOG tracked down and killed more than a dozen members of Black September, but also accidentally killed a Moroccan waiter who had no affiliation with the terrorist group.

Failure to predict Egyptian actions leading to the Yom Kippur War in 1973 forced the resignation of several top officers, including Mossad director Zvi Zamir (1968–74). Yet, on July 3–4, 1976, Mossad more than recovered its reputation with the daring raid at Entebbe, codenamed Operation Thunderbolt. After intensive intelligence-gathering at the site, the Israelis assaulted the plane, rescuing all but four of its 97 passengers and losing a single officer—along with 20 Ugandan soldiers—in the process.

1980s and 1990s. During the 1980s, Mossad's intelligence-gathering against Arab countries helped pave the way for Israeli airstrikes against Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) headquarters in Tunisia, and against an Iraqi nuclear reactor. In April 1988, a Mossad assassination team infiltrated the residence of Abu Jihad, deputy to PLO chief Yassir Arafat, and killed him. Two years later, in March 1990, another hit team killed Gerald Bull, a Canadian scientist aiding the Iraqi weapons program, at his apartment in Brussels.

Among the less successful activities of Mossad during the 1980s and 1990s was its involvement in the Iran-Contra affair, when it acted as an intermediary between the United States and Iran. Embarrassment surrounding the failure of Mossad to prevent the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin by an Israeli citizen in November 1995 led to the resignation of Mossad director Shabtai Shavit in 1996. Prime Minister Shimon Peres then appointed Major General Danny Yatom, the first Mossad chief ever publicly identified. In 2000, Mossad undertook a recruitment campaign, complete with newspaper advertisements and a Web site that took applications on line.

Organization and Operations

From its headquarters in the Israeli capital of Tel Aviv, Mossad oversees a staff estimated at approximately 1,200 personnel in the mid-1990s. It is assumed to consist of eight departments, of which the largest is Collections, tasked with espionage overseas. Officers in the Collections Department operate under a variety of covers, some diplomatic. 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, which is 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.

Further Reading

Books

Eisenberg, Dennis, Uri Dan, and Eli Landau. The Mossad Inside Stories: Israel's Secret Intelligence Service. New York: Paddington Press, 1978.

Eshed, Haggai. Reuven Shiloah: The Man Behind the Mossad: Secret Diplomacy in the Creation of Israel. Portland, OR: F. Cass, 1997.

Horesh, Joshua. An Iraqi Jew in the Mossad: Memoir of an Israeli Intelligence Officer. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1997.

Thomas, Gordon. Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999.

Westerby, Gerald. In Hostile Territory: Business Secrets of a Mossad Combatant. New York: HarperBusiness, 1998.

For the organization that coordinated pre-state Jewish immigration, see Mossad Le'aliyah Bet.

The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations מדינת ישראל המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים
Seal of The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations
Agency overview
Formed	December 13, 1949 as the Central Institute for Coordination
Employees	1,200 (est)
Agency executive	Meir Dagan, Director
Parent agency	Office of the Prime Minister
Website
www.mossad.gov.il

The Mossad (HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim) (Hebrew: המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים‎ - Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations) is the national intelligence agency of Israel. "Mossad" is the Hebrew word for institute or institution.

The Mossad is responsible for intelligence collection, covert operations such as paramilitary activities, political assassinations and the facilitation of aliyah where it is banned. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community (along with Aman (military intelligence) and Shin Bet (internal security), but its director reports directly to the Prime Minister. Its role and function is similar to that of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6).

Contents 1 Prior to Israel's formation 2 Organization 2.1 Executive offices 2.2 Directors of Mossad 3 Organizational history 4 Activities 4.1 North America 4.1.1 United States of America 4.2 South America 4.2.1 Argentina 4.3 Europe 4.3.1 Germany 4.3.2 Italy 4.3.3 Malta 4.3.4 Norway 4.3.5 Bosnia and Herzegovina 4.4 Middle East 4.4.1 Egypt 4.4.2 Iran 4.4.2.1 Iran 1960s 4.4.2.2 Iran 2007 4.4.3 Iraq 4.4.4 Palestinian territories 4.4.5 Lebanon 4.4.6 Syria 4.5 Africa 4.5.1 Ethiopia 4.5.2 Morocco 4.5.3 Tunisia 4.5.4 Uganda 4.6 Oceania 4.6.1 New Zealand 5 Soviet Union 6 Criticism 7 See also 8 Movies 9 Books 10 Television 11 References 12 Further reading 13 External links

Prior to Israel's formation

The "Mossad Le'aliyah Bet" was a small, unorthodox Zionist organization whose mission in 1938 was to bring Jews to Israel. This was done to subvert the British quotas on Jewish immigration. The Mossad's modes of operation, its ideology, and politics resulted in the creation of the intelligence agency for the Israeli government once it was established in 1948. The agency consisted of several of the existing members who had worked to establish Israel as a Jewish nation and to bring the Jewish people to it.

Organization

Executive offices

From its headquarters in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, the Mossad oversees a staff estimated at 1,200 personnel, although it may have numbered up to 2,000 in the late 1980s.^[1] The Mossad 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. It is assumed to consist of eight different departments.

The largest is Collections, tasked with many aspects of conducting espionage overseas. Employees in the Collections Department operate under a variety of covers, including diplomatic and unofficial.^[1] Their field intelligence officers, called katsas, are similar to case officers of the CIA. Thirty to forty operate at a time, mainly in Europe and the Middle East.^[2]

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.^[1]

Among the departments of the Mossad is the Special Operations Division or '"Metsada" (see Kidon), which is involved in assassination, paramilitary operations, sabotage, and psychological warfare.^[1]

Psychological warfare is also a concern of the Lochamah Psichologit Department, which conducts propaganda and deception activities as well.^[1]

Additionally, the Mossad has a Research Department, tasked with intelligence production, and a Technology Department concerned with the development of tools for Mossad activities.^[3]

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Directors of Mossad

• Reuven Shiloah, 1949-1952
• Isser Harel, 1952-1963
• Meir Amit, 1963-1968
• Zvi Zamir, 1968-1974
• Yitzhak Hofi, 1974-1982
• Nahum Admoni, 1982-1989
• Shabtai Shavit, 1989-1996
• Danny Yatom, 1996-1998
• Efraim Halevy, 1998-2002
• Meir Dagan, 2002-present

Organizational history

The Mossad was formed on December 13, 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 "Shin Bet") and the foreign office's "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 1,200.

Mossad's former motto: be-tachbūlōt ta`aseh lekhā milchāmāh (Hebrew: בתחבולות תעשה לך מלחמה‎) is a quote from the Bible (Proverbs 24:6): "For by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory" (NRSV). (In Hebrew, "tachbūlōt" - "wise guidance" in English - can also be translated as "cunning", "trick", or "deception", all of which are appropriate for an intelligence agency.)

The motto was changed recently as part of the Mossad's public 'coming out' to another Proverbs passage: be-'éyn tachbūlōt yippol `ām; ū-teshū`āh be-rov yō'éts (Hebrew: באין תחבולות יפול עם, ותשועה ברוב יועץ‎) (Proverbs 11:14). This is translated by NRSV as: "Where there is no guidance, a nation falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety."

Activities

North America

United States of America

The Mossad informed the FBI and CIA in August 2001 that as many as 200 terrorists were slipping into the United States and planning "a major assault on the United States." The Israeli intelligence agency cautioned that it had picked up indications of a "large-scale target" in the United States and that Americans would be "very vulnerable." A month later, the terrorists struck at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.^[4]

South America

Argentina

In 1960, the Mossad discovered that Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was in Argentina and through surveillance, they confirmed that he had been living there under the name of Ricardo Klement. He was captured by a team of Mossad agents on May 11, 1960, and subsequently smuggled to Israel where he was tried and executed. Argentina protested what it considered as the violation of its sovereignty, and the United Nations Security Council noted that "repetition of acts such as [this] would involve a breach of the principles upon which international order is founded, creating an atmosphere of insecurity and distrust incompatible with the preservation of peace" while also acknowledging that "Eichmann should be brought to appropriate justice for the crimes of which he is accused" and that "this resolution should in no way be interpreted as condoning the odious crimes of which Eichmann is accused."^[5][6] Mossad abandoned a second operation, intended to capture Josef Mengele.

Europe

Germany

• Operation Plumbat (1968) was an operation by Lekem-Mossad to further Israel's nuclear program. The German freighter "Scheersberg A", disappeared on its way from Antwerp to Genoa along with its cargo of 200 tons of yellowcake, after supposedly being transferred to an Israeli ship.^[7]

• The sending of letter bombs during the Operation Wrath of God campaign. Some of these attacks were not fatal. Their purpose might not have been to kill the receiver. Some of the more famous examples of the Mossad letter bombs were those sent to Nazi war-criminal Alois Brunner.^[8]

Italy

The abduction of nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu in 1986 after American-Israeli agent Cheryl Bentov lured him from the United Kingdom.^[9]

Malta

The assassination of Fathi Shiqaqi, a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in 1995 in front of the Diplomat Hotel in Sliema, Malta.^[10]

Norway

Main article: Lillehammer affair

On July 21, 1973, Ahmed Bouchiki, a Moroccan waiter in Lillehammer, Norway, was killed by Mossad 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.^[11][12][13]

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Assisted in air and overland evacuations of the Jews from war-torn Sarajevo to Israel in 1992.

Middle East

Egypt

• Directed failed framing and infiltration of Egypt, Lavon Affair , 1954

• Directed missions for Israeli spy Wolfgang Lotz in Egypt 1957-1965.

• Provision of intelligence on the Egyptian Air Force for Operation Focus, the opening airstrike of the Six-Day War.

• Operation Bulmus 6 - Intelligence assistance in the Commando Assault on Green Island, Egypt during the War of Attrition.

Iran

Iran 1960s

Prior to the Iranian Revolution of 1978–79 in Iran, SAVAK (Organization of National Security and Information), the Iranian secret police and intelligence service was created under the guidance of United States and Israeli intelligence officers in 1957 to protect the regime of the shah by arresting, torturing, and executing the dissidents (especially Leftists). After security relations between the United States and Iran grew more distant in the early 1960s which led the CIA training team to leave Persia, Mossad became increasingly active in Iran, "training SAVAK personnel and carry­ing out a broad variety of joint operations with SAVAK."^[14][15]

Iran 2007

It was alleged by private intelligence agency Stratfor, based on "sources close to Israeli intelligence", that Dr. Ardeshir Hosseinpour, a scientist involved in the Iranian nuclear program, was killed by the Mossad on January 15, 2007.^[16]

A US intelligence official told The Washington Post that Israel orchestrated the defection of Iranian general Ali Reza Askari on February 7, 2007.^[17] This has been denied by Israeli spokesman Mark Regev. The Sunday Times reported that Askari had been a Mossad asset since 2003, and left only when his cover was about to be blown.^[18]

Iraq

Assistance in the defection and rescuing of the family of Munir Redfa, an Iraqi pilot who defected and flew his MiG 21 to Israel in 1966.

Operation Sphinx^[2] - Between 1978 and 1981, obtained highly sensitive information about Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor by recruiting an Iraqi nuclear scientist in France. On April 5, 1979, the Mossad destroyed 60 percent of the Iraqi reactor components being built in France; "[An] environmental organization named Groupe des écologistes français, unheard of before this incident, claimed credit for the blast."^[2] The reactor was subsequently destroyed by an Israeli air strike in 1981.^[2][19]

The alleged assassination of Canadian scientist Gerald Bull, developer of the Iraqi supergun, in 1990. The most common theory is that the Mossad was responsible, and its representatives have all but claimed responsibility for his assassination. 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.^[20]

Palestinian territories

• The assassination of members of Black September, who were responsible for the Munich massacre at the 1972 Olympic Games, called "Operation Wrath of God".^[21]

• The assassination of PFLP and PFLP-EO leader Wadie Haddad in 1978.

• The assassination of As-Sa'iqa leader Zuhayr Muhsin in 1979.

• The assassination of Fathi Shqaqi, the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in 1995.

• 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 spraying 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. Israel was forced to provide the antidote to the poison and to 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.

• The sending of letter bombs to PFLP member Bassam Abu Sharif.^[22]

Lebanon

The provision of intelligence and operational assistance in 1973's Operation Spring of Youth.

Syria

The assassination of Hamas leader Izz El-Deen Sheikh Khalil in Damascus in 2004.

The assassination of Hezbollah leader Imad Mugniyeh in Damascus in 2008.

Africa

Ethiopia

Assistance in Operation Moses, the immigration of Ethiopian Jews to Israel in 1984, and has a relationship with the Ethiopian government.

Morocco

According to Time, the Mossad was involved in what is known as the Ben Barka Affair (see Mehdi Ben Barka).

Tunisia

Tunis Raid - The assassination of Abu Jihad from the Fatah in 1988.

Uganda

The provision of intelligence regarding Entebbe International Airport and grant of refueling rights in Kenya for Operation Entebbe in 1976.

Oceania

New Zealand

Further information: Israel-New Zealand relations

In July 2004, New Zealand imposed diplomatic sanctions on Israel over an incident in which two Australian based Israelis, Uriel Kelman and Eli Cara, who were allegedly working for Mossad, attempted to fraudulently obtain New Zealand passports by claiming the identity of a severely disabled man. 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.^[23] 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 they both managed to leave New Zealand before being traced.^[24]

Soviet Union

In February 1956, a friendly member of the Politburo provided the Mossad with a copy of Nikita Khrushchev's speech denouncing Joseph Stalin. The Mossad passed it on to the United States, which published the speech, embarrassing the USSR. This was a major intelligence coup that raised the prestige of the organization.^[25]

Criticism

Mossad has often come under criticism for perceived excessive actions against Israel's enemies.^[26] It has been criticized for carrying out assassinations, abductions and torture.^[27]

See also

• Israeli Intelligence Community
• Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service
• Sayeret Matkal
• Foreign relations of the Vatican
• The Spy Machine
• List of Israeli assassinations

Movies

Munich - a film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Eric Bana as a Mossad agent. A remake of Sword of Gideon based on the true story of the Black September Munich Massacre aftermath, about the five men chosen to eliminate the ones responsible for that fateful day.

Books

• Yuval Aviv - Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team
• Ari Ben-Menashe
• Black, Ian and Morris, Benny. Israel's Secret Wars: A History of Israel's Intelligence Services. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1991. 603 pages.
• Victor Ostrovsky - By Way of Deception and The Other Side of Deception
• Parsi, Rita. Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States, Yale University Press, 2007, ISBN 0300120575.
• Central Intelligence Agency. "Israel. Foreign Intelligence and Security Services, 1979". Included in the volume "Documents from the US Espionage Den", Tehran, 1982.

Television

• NCIS features a prominent main character named Ziva David, who is the Mossad Liaison assigned to NCIS as well as the control officer of one of the show's antagonist, rogue Mossad operative Ari Haswari. As of Season 6, Episode 25, Aliyah, Officer David no longer works at NCIS.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Mossad profile, Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved October 28, 2006.
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Ostrovsky, Victor. By Way of Deception-The making and unmaking of a Mossad Officer. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990. ISBN 0-9717595-0-2
3. ^ the Mossad profile, Federation of American Scientists. Retrieved October 28, 2006
4. ^ Officials Told of ‘Major Assault’ Plans.
5. ^ Argentina claimed, quite plausibly, that the "illicit and clandestine transfer of Eichmann from Argentine territory constitutes a flagrant violation of the Argentine State's right of sovereignty[.]" Bass, Gary J. (2004.) The Adolf Eichmann Case: Universal and National Jurisdiction. In Stephen Macedo (ed,) Universal Jurisdiction: National Courts and the Prosecution of Serious Crimes. (ch.4) Philadelphia: U.Penn. Press. In Eichmann's case, the most salient feature from the perspective of international law was the fact of Israeli law enforcement action in another state's territory without consent; the human element includes the dramatic circumstances of the capture by Mossad agents and the ensuing custody and transfer to Israel[.] Damrosch, Lori F. (2004.) Connecting the Threads in the Fabric of International Law. In Stephen Macedo (ed,) Universal Jurisdiction: National Courts and the Prosecution of Serious Crimes. (ch.5) Philadelphia: U.Penn. Press. The principle of territorial integrity (in Art. 2(4) UN Charter) At its most obvious level this means that the exercise of enforcement jurisdiction within the territory of another state will be a violation of territorial integrity ³² Note 32: E.g. after Adolf Eichmann [...] was abducted from Argentina by a group of Israelis, now known to be from the Israeli Secret Service (Mossad), the Argentine Government lodged a complaint with the UN Security Council [...] It is however unclear whether as a matter of international law the obligation to make reparation for a violation of territorial sovereignty such as that involved in the Eichmann case includes an obligation to return the offender. Higgins, Rosalyn and Maurice Floy. (1997). Terrorism and International Law. UK: Routledge. (p. 48)
6. ^ Security Council Resolution 138, "Question Relating to the Case of Adolf Eichmann"
7. ^ ISRAEL The Plumbat Operation (1968) retrieved 10/12/2008
8. ^ Henley, Jon. "French court strikes blow against fugitive Nazi", The Guardian, March 3, 2001. Retrieved October 27, 2006
9. ^ Martin, Susan Taylor. "The spy - and the man she busted", St. Petersburg Times, March 21, 2004. Retrieved October 27, 2006
10. ^ Military.com Resources
11. ^ Israelis to Compensate Family of Slain Waiter - New York Times
12. ^ Fatal Error
13. ^ Canadian Press Calls for Inquiry into Allegations Regarding Mossad Use of Passports
14. ^ CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (CIA) IN PERSIA. In Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved July 03, 2008
15. ^ SAVAK, Library of Congress Country Studies. Retrieved July 03, 2008
16. ^ "Geopolitical Diary: Israeli Covert Operations in Iran" (in English) (HTML). Stratfor. 2007-02-02. http://www.stratfor.com/products/premium/read_article.php?id=283793. Retrieved on 2007-02-04.  (requires premium subscription)
17. ^ Linzer, Dafna. "Former Iranian Defense Official Talks to Western Intelligence", The Washington Post, March 8, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2007.
18. ^ Mahnaimi, Uzi. "Defector spied on Iran for years", The Sunday Times, March 11, 2007. Retrieved March 11, 2007.
19. ^ "FRANCE PROTESTS TO ISRAEL ON RAID", The New York Times, June 10, 1981. Retrieved November 16, 2006
20. ^ Dr. Gerald Bull: Scientist, Weapons Maker, Dreamer at CBC.ca
21. ^ The Jewish Chronicle
22. ^ Guerin, Orla. "Arafat: On borrowed time", BBC News, June 29, 2002. Retrieved October 27, 2006
23. ^ Israeli government apologises to New Zealand - 26 Jun 2005 - NZ Herald: New Zealand National news
24. ^ Hallel, Amir, At home with the Mossad men, The New Zealand Herald
25. ^ Timeline:Israeli intelligence and covert operations From the War of Independence to 1956
26. ^ Mossd
27. ^ Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad

Further reading

• Shimron, Gad 2007, "Mossad Exodus; The Daring Undercover Rescue of the Lost Jewish Tribe", Gefen Publishing House. ISBN 978-9652294036

• Thomas, Gordon 2007, "Gideon's Spies; The Secret History of the Mossad", Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 978-0-312-36152-5

External links

• Official website (Hebrew) (English), (Russian), (Persian), (Arabic)
• GlobalSecurity.org entry for Mossad

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