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Mossad

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For the Haganah branch responsible for coordinating Jewish immigration into the British Mandate of Palestine, see Mossad Le'aliyah Bet.
The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations
המוסד למודיעין
ולתפקידים מיוחדים

Established: December 13, 1949
Director: Meir Dagan
Deputy Director: Classified
Associate Director for Military Support: Classified
Director of Intelligence: Classified
Director of S&T: Classified
Director of Support: Classified
Director of the CSI: Classified
Director of Public Affairs: PM Office
Inspector General: SC Office
General Counsel: Classified
Budget: Classified
Number of employees: Classified

Ha-Mosad le-Modi'in u-le-Tafkidim Meyukhadimⓘ (Hebrew: המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations), often referred to as The Mossad (meaning The Institute), is Israel's intelligence agency and is responsible for intelligence collection, counter-terrorism, covert operations such as paramilitary activities, and the facilitation of aliyah where it is banned. It is one of the main Intelligence Community entities in Israel (along with Aman (military intelligence) and Shin Bet (internal security)), but its director reports directly to the Prime Minister. Its role and function is like that of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the USA, the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) in the United Kingdom, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) in Canada and the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) in Australia.

"Mossad" is usually preceded by the definite article "the," though in common usage this is sometimes dropped.

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. Its motto is be-'éyn tahbūlōt yīpōl `ām; ū-teshū`āh be-rōv yo'éts (Hebrew: באין תחבולות יפול עם, ותשועה ברוב יועץ, "14 ""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 city of Tel Aviv, the Mossad oversees a staff estimated at 1200 personnel, although it may have numbered up to 2000 in the late 1980s.[2] The 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. 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.[2] 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.[3]

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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.[2]

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.[2]

Psychological warfare is also a concern of the Lohamah Psichlogit Department, which conducts propaganda and deception activities as well.[2]

Additionally, the Mossad has a Research Department, tasked with intelligence production, and a Technology Department concerned with the development of tools for Mossad activities.[4]

High profile operations

The Mossad's many endeavors in serving Israel's security interests have earned the 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

Alleged but unproven operations

  • 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 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.[9]
  • 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.[10]
  • A US intelligence official told The Washington Post that Israel orchestrated the defection of Iranian general Ali Reza Askari on February 7, 2007.[11] This has been denied by Israeli spokesperson Mark Regev. The Sunday Times reported that Askari has been a Mossad source since 2003, and left only when his cover was about to be blown.[12]

Failed operations

  • In 1997, two Mossad agents were caught in Jordan, which had signed a peace treaty with Israel, on a mission to assassinate Sheikh Yassin, 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, 7 years after he was released, Yassin was killed in an Israeli helicopter airstrike.

Compromised Mossad Actions

  • 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 the Mossad (Israel denied it), attempted to obtain New Zealand passports fraudulently 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. [1] Both Kelman and Cara served half of their 6 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 4th men involved in the passport affair but managed to leave New Zealand before being traced. Amir Lati, 2nd Secretary at the Israeli Embassy in Canberra was later expelled from Australia in January 2005 for reasons still not disclosed by the Australian Government.

Directors of The Mossad

  • NCIS - Starting with the third season, NCIS added a character Ziva David, who is a Mossad officer attached to NCIS as a liaison officer. Her father is portrayed as the current director (deputy-director in season 3), and her half-brother was a Mossad agent undercover as a Hamas terrorist.
  • Walk on Water - The movie's main character is Eyal, a Mossad agent sent to locate a Nazi war criminal.
  • The Little Drummer Girl - 1984 An American actress with a penchant for lying is forceably recruited by the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency to trap a Palestinian bomber, by pretending to be the girlfriend of his dead brother. - IMDB
  • The Constant Gardener - dialogue on spies:
    • Tessa Quayle: "I thought you spies knew everything, Tim?"
    • Tim Donohue: "Only God knows everything, and he works for Mossad."
  • Spooks (UK TV Series) - Three 2006 episodes featured Mossad operations: first a 2-parter violent Black op takeover of a Saudi trade meeting in the guise of Al Qaeda terrorists (episodes 6 and 7), and an effort to execute members of an imaginary militant Christian organization in the following episode.
  • Triple (Book by Ken Follet) - The main character, Nat Dickstein, works for the Mossad performing a mission with the purpose of stealing 100 tons of uranium into Israel.
  • Waking the Dead (UK TV Series)- A Mossad agent works with Boyd and the cold case unit to solve a murder case from 1945
  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow - a fictional character named Sam Fisher ends up coordinating missions with Mossad, however, it turns out though he was really working with a Shin Bet agent attempting to discredit Mossad.
  • Scarecrow (book by Matthew Reilly) - Mossad features in the plot, and is portrayed as the most knowledgeable intelligence service of the world.
  • Seven Ancient Wonders/Seven Deadly wonders (book by Matthew Reily) - Features a character called "Stretch", an Israeli man dispatched by the Mossad to join a coalition of countries in the search for the Capstone of the Great Pyramid. Also features a meeting between approx 30 agents of the Mossad, and Jack West Jr, the main character of the novel.

Conspiracy theories

Like other intelligence agencies, the Mossad has frequently been the subject of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories. This has included purported involvement in the John F. Kennedy assassination,[14] the death of Diana, Princess of Wales,[15] the assassination of Elie Hobeika.[16]

A commonly circulated internet myth incorrectly attributes the motto; "By way of deception, thou shalt do war", to the Mossad.[17]

See also

Potential whistleblowers

References

  1. ^ About Us, Official Mossad Website. Retrieved October 28, 2006.
  2. ^ a b c d e Mossad profile, Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved October 28, 2006.
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ the Mossad profile, Federation of American Scientists. Retrieved October 28, 2006,
  5. ^ "FRANCE PROTESTS TO ISRAEL ON RAID", The New York Times, June 10, 1981. Retrieved November 16, 2006.
  6. ^ Martin, Susan Taylor. "The spy - and the man she busted", St. Petersburg Times, March 21, 2004. Retrieved October 27, 2006.
  7. ^ Henley, Jon. "French court strikes blow against fugitive Nazi", The Guardian, March 3, 2001. Retrieved October 27, 2006.
  8. ^ Guerin, Orla. "Arafat: On borrowed time", BBC News, June 29, 2002. Retrieved October 27, 2006.
  9. ^ Dr. Gerald Bull: Scientist, Weapons Maker, Dreamer at CBC.ca
  10. ^ "Geopolitical Diary: Israeli Covert Operations in Iran" (HTML). Stratfor. 2007-02-02. Retrieved 2007-02-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |accessyear=, |month=, |accessmonthday=, and |coauthors= (help) (requires premium subscription)
  11. ^ Linzer, Dafna. "Former Iranian Defense Official Talks to Western Intelligence", The Washington Post, March 8, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2007.
  12. ^ Mahnaimi, Uzi. "Defector spied on Iran for years", The Sunday Times, March 11, 2007. Retrieved March 11, 2007.
  13. ^ Siegel, Tatiana. "Sandler's "Zohan" comedy recruited by Columbia", Reuters, February 7, 2007. Retrieved February 7, 2007.
  14. ^ "Mossad And The JFK Assassination", john-f-kennedy.net. Retrieved October 28, 2006.
  15. ^ "Will Mossad finally hand over its secret files on Diana's death?", Canada Free Press, and September 21, 2006. Retrieved October 28 2006.
  16. ^ "Sharon witness blown up in Beirut", The Guardian, January 25, 2002. Retrieved November 16, 2006.
  17. ^ google search for mossad motto deception


Further reading

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