Tamir Pardo

Tamir Pardo
Born	1953
Nationality	Israeli
Alma mater	Tel Aviv University
Espionage activity
Allegiance	State of Israel
Service branch	IDF, Mossad
Service years	1971-  ; (IDF) - (Mossad)
Rank	officer

Tamir Pardo (Hebrew: תמיר פרדו; born 1953), is the next director of the Mossad, announced as the current director's replacement by Israeli prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on November 29, 2010.. The appointment was confirmed by the Committee for senior appointments headed by Jacob Turkel.

Pardo served in the Israel Defense Forces as a communication officer in the elite special forces unit of Sayeret Matkal. He was a member of the unit commanded by Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu' which participated in Operation Entebbe. Netanyahu, the current Israeli prime minister's older brother, was killed during the incident.

After finishing his compulsory service to the Israeli army, Pardo joined the Mossad and served in entry-level technical positions. He rose through the ranks and eventually became head of the "Keshst" department, responsible for operations, including obtaining electronic intelligence through wiretaps and photographic methods. In 2005, he was a Mossad candidate for the number 2 position, when another individual was given a promotion to that job. Then-chief, Meir Dagan, lent Pardo to the IDF, where he served as a senior advisor for operations to the Israeli General staff. In his latter position, he also served during the 2006 Lebanon War. After Dagan fired his then number 2, he invited Pardo to return to the Mossad in that position. The latter did so in the belief that when Dagan retired, he (Pardo) would be offered the job. However, Dagan's term was extended and he didn't retire as expected. This caused Pardo to leave the Mossad, whereupon he went into private business with Israeli internet gambling entrepreneur, Noam Lanir.

Pardo was the only internal Mossad candidate this time around. And it is rumored that Benjamin Netanyahu wished to signal continuity in the ranks by choosing an internal candidate. Israeli media reports that at least one candidate, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries's CEO, and retired reserved Major General, Shlomo Yanai, who, prior to Pardo, was offered the job by Netanyahu and turned it down .

Secrecy

Israel has a custom of secrecy regarding the identity of intelligence officers (aside from Mossad chief, also only in recent years) and Pardo was known as "T." until his promotion was made official. An Israeli military correspondent identified Pardo by name in June 2010 on Twitter, but no official media outlet would do so. The Tikun Olam (blog) identified Pardo by name a day before his promotion was announced, noting that the principle of secrecy did not allow society to properly vet such candidates for powerful positions. Haaretz, in an editorial after the appointment was anounced, also wrote:

It [Mossad] answers exclusively to the prime minister, and the identity of its head only became public after his appointment. This does not allow for sufficient public oversight - neither on the process of the appointment, nor on his performance. This must also be addressed during the changeover.