Mossad's Assassination of Hamas Leader Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh

Mossad'sAssassinationofHamasLeaderMahmoudAl-Mabhouh

Mossad known as Murder Incorporated and in Above International Law

Israel's Mossad controlled and financed behind the scenes by the Lords Jacob and the Rothchschild Family and its appointed operatives can murder anyone, anytime and anywhere in the World knowing that Mossad and its operatives involved in arranging and/or carrying out such murder will never likely to be held responsible for their involvement in such murders

 

Current Head of Mossad David Barnea - Wikipedia

David Barnea

David "DadiBarnea 2003

David "DadiBarnea (Hebrewדוד (דדי) ברנע; born 29 March 1965) is the current Director of the Mossad, having taken over from Yossi Cohen in June 2021.[1]

Director of Mossad

Incumbent Assumed office 1 June 2021

Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu

Naftali Bennett

Yair Lapid

Benjamin Netanyahu

Preceded by Yossi Cohen

Personal details

Born 29 March 1965 (age 58) Ashkelon, Israel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Barnea 

The Early Life of David "Dadi" Barnea

Barnea was born in Ashkelon and grew up in Rishon Lezion. His father, Joseph Brunner (Barnea), fled with his family from Nazi Germany and immigrated to Israel at the age of three. Joseph was a graduate of the Hapoel HaMizrachi Yeshiva in Bnei Brak and joined the Palmach at the age of 16. He fought with the Third Battalion of the organization in Nabi Yusha and Safed and then served as an officer with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Israeli Air Force. He was also a manager at Tadiran. His mother, Naomi, was born on board the SS Patria and worked as a teacher and school principal.[2]

Barnea studied at the Military Boarding School for Command in Tel Aviv,⁣[3] and enlisted in the IDF in 1983. He did his military service with the General Staff Reconnaissance Regiment (Sayeret Matkal). He later studied in the United States, obtaining a Bachelor's degree from the New York Institute of Technology and an MBA from Pace University. He then worked as a business manager at an investment bank in Israel.[4]

David "DadiBarnea (Hebrewדוד (דדי) ברנע; born 29 March 1965) is the current Director of the Mossad, having taken over from Yossi Cohen in June 2021.[1]

Career of David "DadiBarnea 

In 1996, Barnea joined the Mossad. He served in the Tzomet Division, commanding operational units in Israel and abroad. For two and a half years, he served as deputy head of the Keshet Division, which is tasked with infiltrating and monitoring targets. In 2013, he was appointed head of the Tzomet Division.[5] While Barnea ran Tsomet, four awards for Israeli national security were presented to the division. In 2019, he was appointed deputy head of the Mossad. In June 2021, he was appointed head of the Mossad.

After the beginning of the war between 2023 Hamas and Israel, Barnea pushed for a deal with Hamas to secure the release of Israeli hostages. On November 9th, Barnea met with CIA Director William J. Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in Doha. The possibilities of a ceasefire and the release of hostages were discussed. In addition to CIA chief Burns, Barnea was also included in the talks between US President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu about the release of hostages.[6] Barnea prevailed against Netanyahu, who is said to have long preferred a purely military solution.[7]

  • Reuven Shiloah

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuven_Shiloah

 Reuven Shiloah

Shiloah on his way to Rhodes for talks on 1949 Armistice Agreements

Born  December 1909 JerusalemOttoman  Empire

Died  1959 (aged 49–50)

Nationality Israeli

Occupation  Director of Mossad

Awards  Medal of Courage

Espionage activity

Allegiance Israel State of Israel

Service branch  Mossad

Service years  1949–1952

Reuven Shiloah (Hebrewראובן שילוח; December 1909 – 1959) was the first Director of the Mossad from 1949 to 1953.

Breaking News: Saudi Arabia Warns USA, Says No Ties With Israel Unless The Gaza War Ends.  Geopolitics TV
 
 
78,674 views Feb 10, 2024 #geopolitics #isreal
#geopolitics #Gazawar #isreal 
As the struggle between Israel and Gaza persists, uncertainty looms over the possibility of a resolution. Doubts have begun to surface regarding the existence of a definitive roadmap to peace in the Middle East. The far-reaching impacts of this ongoing conflict have not only affected the region but have also reverberated across the global economy, compelling major world powers to take a stand. In the midst of this complicated geopolitical landscape, Saudi Arabia, a significant player in the Middle East, has emerged with a stance that has raised eyebrows. However, this position has not been without its share of controversy, as critics have accused Saudi Arabia of straying from its traditional support for Palestine. However, Saudi Arabia has recently made assertive statements, particularly directed towards the West, indicating a significant shift in its approach to the ongoing conflict. Saudi Arabia has conveyed to the United States its firm stance regarding the establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel. The Kingdom has emphasized that such normalization of ties will only occur under the condition that an independent Palestinian state is officially recognized.
Central to this recognition is the insistence on the borders of the Palestinian state being based on the lines established in 1967, which encompass territories including the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, with the latter designated as its capital. Riyadh seeks to mobilize diplomatic efforts toward achieving a sustainable and comprehensive peace settlement in the region.
Such recognition would not only affirm the rights of the Palestinian people but also contribute to promoting stability and security in the Middle East. Regardless, the question still arises, can Saudi Arabia help mediate the growing tensions? Well, let us find out.
According to a ministry statement, Riyadh reaffirmed its demand that permanent members of the U.N. Security Council who have not yet acknowledged the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital do so. The statement referred to the longstanding aspiration of the Palestinians to establish an independent state alongside Israel, encompassing territories that Israel occupied during the 1967 war.
These territories notably include the West Bank, which incorporates East Jerusalem, as well as the Gaza Strip. Furthermore, the statement reflected the imperative for an end to what it termed as "Israeli aggression" against the Gaza Strip. It emphasized the necessity for Israeli forces to withdraw from the territory, echoing longstanding concerns regarding the military presence and actions of Israel within Gaza.

Mossad-Chef David Barnea gilt als Netanjahu-Gegner

David Barnea (r.) bei einem Treffen mit Benjamin Netanjahu (l.) im Januar 2023.

David Barnea (r.) bei einem Treffen mit Benjamin Netanjahu (l.) im Januar 2023. © IMAGO/Koby Gideon/Israel Gpo

https://www.fr.de/politik/israel-hamas-mossad-chef-david-barnea-hamas-deal-netanjahu-gegner-justizreform-zr-92695048.html 

Seit 2021 ist David Barnea Direktor des Mossad. Der Leiter des mächtigen Geheimdiensts Israels begehrte in der Vergangenheit gegen die Pläne Netanjahus auf.

Tel Aviv – Als am 7. Oktober die Hamas in Israel einfiel und ihre terroristischen Anschläge verübte, stand auch der israelische Geheimdienst Mossad schnell im Mittelpunkt. Die sonst so gut informierte Institution wurde von dem Beginn des Krieges in Israel kalt erwischt und stand und steht dementsprechend in der Kritik. Nichtsdestoweniger kam Mossad-Chef David Barnea beim Deal mit der Hamas zur Freilassung der Geißeln eine wichtige Rolle zu.

Mossad-Direktor Barnea schon vor Gaza-Krieg kritisch gegenüber Netanjahu

Dass der Mossad auf die Anschläge der Hamas unvorbereitet war, hat nicht zu einem besseren Verhältnis zwischen Israels Ministerpräsidenten Benjamin Netanjahu und dem Direktor des Mossad, David Barnea, beigetragen. Doch es war wohl ohnehin schon seit längerem nicht von uneingeschränkten gegenseitigen Wohlwollen geprägt. Zumindest Barnea gilt keineswegs als Freund des eingeschlagenen Kurses Netanjahus in der Innenpolitik.

Im Zuge der Massenproteste gegen die umstrittene Justizreform soll David Barnea Treffen mit Mossad-Leuten einberufen haben, in denen er sich gegen die Reform ausgesprochen haben soll. Israelische Medien berichteten von zwei ihnen bekannten Sitzungen, in denen Barnea seinen Mitarbeitenden im Hinblick auf etwaige Folgen der Justizreform versicherte: Wenn es zu einer Verfassungskrise kommt, werde ich auf der richtigen Seite der Geschichte stehen – aber so weit sind wir noch nicht.“

Barnea gilt als Liberaler und steht damit der teils aus rechtsnationalen Parteien bestehenden Regierungskoalition wohl kritisch gegenüber. Den Angehörigen des Mossad, abgesehen von den Führungspersonen, stellte er frei, sich an den Protesten gegen die Justizreform zu beteiligen. Kernkritikpunkt an der Reform ist eine Schwächung des Obersten Gerichtshofs und damit eine Stärkung des Parlaments. Kritiker sehen die Gewaltenteilung im israelischen Staat in Gefahr.

image

Former Israeli Spy Chief Meir Dagan Dies - WSJThe former head of Israel’s Mossad led operations that disrupted Iran’s nuclear weapons development

All images

Aluf Meir Dagan was an Israel Defense Forces Major General and Director of the Mossad.

Dagan, center, during the 1982 Lebanon War. To his left is Yossi Ben Hanan, to his right is Haim Nadel (he), and to the side is Amos Yaron.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meir_Dagan

Aluf Meir Dagan (Hebrewמאיר דגן; 30 January 1945 – 17 March 2016) was an Israel Defense Forces Major General (reserve) and Director of the Mossad.[2]

Dagan as a General in 1993

IDF chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi honoring outgoing Mossad director, Meir Dagan

undefined

Meir Dagan's funeral, with Benjamin NetanyahuReuven RivlinShimon Peres, and Moshe Ya'alon in attendance.

 
Born Meir Hubermann · 30 January 1945 · KhersonUSSR
Died 17 March 2016 (aged 71)
Nickname King of Shadows
Years of service1963–1996

Meir Dagan, the former head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, passed away at the age of 71 Thursday in Tel Aviv’s Ichilov hospital. Dagan was a decorated general who became Israel’s top spymaster, before becoming a vocal critic of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies.

Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan dies at 71 | The Times of Israel

Meir Dagan, the former head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, passed away at the age of 71 Thursday in Tel Aviv’s Ichilov hospital.

Dagan was a decorated general who became Israel’s top spymaster, before becoming a vocal critic of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies.

He had suffered from health problems for several years and the reported cause of death was cancer. He is survived by his wife and three children.

Mr. Dagan served as director of the agency, the Mossad, from 2002 until his retirement in 2011. During that time, Israel is believed to have carried out deadly assaults on Iran’s nuclear scientists and cyberattacks against its nuclear enrichment facilities. As a matter of policy, Israel neither confirms nor denies such operations.

  Tamir Pardo

Former Head of Mossad 2011 to 2016 which is Isrsel's Security Agency Tamir Pardo - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamir_Pardo#:~:text=Tamir%20Pardo%20(Hebrew%3A%20%D7%AA%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%A8%20%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%93%D7%95,role%20from%202011%20until%202016

Tamir Pardo (Hebrewתמיר פרדו; born 1953) is the former Director of Mossad, taking over the role from Meir Dagan on January 1, 2011. The appointment was announced by Israeli prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on November 29, 2010.[1] He served in the role from 2011 until 2016.

Tamir Pardo
תמיר פרדו

Pardo in 2015
 
11th Director of the Mossad
In office
January 1, 2011 – January 5, 2016
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Preceded by Meir Dagan
Succeeded by Yossi Cohen
Personal details
Born 1953
Tel AvivIsrael
Alma mater Tel Aviv University
Military service
Allegiance Israel Israel
Branch/service Israel Defense Forces
Years of service 1971–present
Battles/wars Operation Entebbe
 

Since he stepped down as Director of Mossad, he has been a vocal critic of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his 2023 judicial reforms. He has called for Netanyahu to resign and stand trial on charges of engaging in a coup, and accused the Israeli government of overseeing an apartheid state.[2][3][4][5] He has also accused Netanyahu of planning to directly attack Iran, and of spying on both himself and Benny Gantz, then chief of General Staff of the IDF.[6][7][8]

January 19, 2010, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
On 19 January 2010, al-Mabhouh was killed in his room in a hotel in Dubai. He had been followed by at least eleven Mossad agents who were carrying fake or fraudulently obtained passports from various Western countries, seven of which assumed the names of Israeli dual citizens
The assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh (Arabicمحمود المبحوحMaḥmūd al-Mabḥūḥ; 14 February 1961 – 19 January 2010) took place on 19 January 2010, in a hotel room in DubaiAl-Mabhouh—a co-founder of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas—was wanted by the Israeli government for the kidnapping and murder of two Israeli soldiers in 1989 as well as purchasing arms from Iran for use in Gaza; these have been cited as a possible motive for the assassination. 
 
"Kill Him Silently: Mossad vs Khaled Meshaal: Part 1 and 2 | Al Jazeera World"
On September 25, 1997, the Israeli secret service tried to kill Khaled Meshaal, the Palestinian political leader of the Hamas movement. A six-member team had arrived in the Jordanian capital, Amman, a week before the date set for the assassination of the head of the Hamas political bureau who was living in exile. The Israeli agents had entered through Jordan's Queen Alia International airport from Amsterdam, Toronto and Paris using false Canadian passports. Interviewed in the film, Meshaal says: "The Israeli threats started that summer. Israel had tried but failed to prevent Palestinian operations. So it escalated its threats especially against Hamas leaders abroad. With hindsight, those threats reveal what the Israelis were planning. But at the same time we felt relatively at ease since Israel had never carried out an operation in Jordan." Mossad's move to assassinate Meshaal came in the wake of a series of suicide bombings Hamas carried out in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The attacks had left over 20 Israelis dead and hundreds injured. Israel was enraged and Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, called for an urgent meeting with his security services, including Mossad. He wanted a significant and telling strike against Hamas. The objective was clear: retaliation. At the same time there was a growing sense of mutual irritation at the heart of the Jordanian-Israeli relations. With this backdrop, Netanyahu gave the green light for the Mossad covert operation against Meshaal. It was to involve a slow-acting but lethal poison that would gradually shut down the brain's respiratory centre, leading to death. The plan was to spray the toxin into Meshaal's ears, leaving no apparent trace of any weapon, and leading to death within 48 hours. One of Meshaal's bodyguards, Muhammad Abu Saif, had chased the two Mossad agents who had carried out the operation and, with the help of a passing Palestinian Liberation Army officer, later captured them. The failed assassination proved to be one of the greatest fiascos in the history of special operations, and a pivotal moment in the rise of Hamas. This two-part film features exclusive interviews with Meshaal himself as well as with Danny Yatom, the then head of the Mossad, who masterminded the attempt to kill the Hamas leader, and who later fled to Jordan with the antidote that saved Meshaal's life.
The second part of the film shows events following the failed assassination attempt, including behind-the-scenes discussions during the diplomatic struggle involving Jordan, Israel and the US. Retired Major-General Ali Shukri, who was the manager of the office of Jordan's King Hussein back in 1997, played a key role in managing the crisis that ensued following the Israeli attack on Meshaal. "King Hussein called President Clinton and informed him of what had happened. Clinton listened with astonishment. He couldn't believe that could happen in Jordan. By the end of the conversation Clinton was angry and said: "That man is impossible!", referring to Netanyahu. "King Hussein informed Clinton of his demands – the antidote and the nature of the [toxins] used against Meshaal. He told him the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel would be over if Meshaal died." At the same time, Danny Yatom, then chief of the Mossad, immediately travelled to Amman to meet King Hussein, who was reportedly furious with Yatom. The aim of Yatom's trip: To contain the situation. With tensions running high, King Hussein ordered his security forces to surround the Israeli embassy in Amman, where other members of the Mossad assassination squad were believed to be hiding. Meanwhile doctors at the Hussein Medical City hospital were struggling to diagnose Meshaal, who already lay in a coma. After expert consultation the doctors concluded that a large amount of an opiate-like drug had been administered to Meshaal. Tests showed it was a drug similar to morphine, which if administered in high doses, would have the effect of disabling the body's respiratory system. On September 27, Meshaal came out of the coma, appearing to return from the dead. The media knew nothing of the secret negotiations between Jordan and Israel, or King Hussein's demand for the antidote, until later. The Israeli government and the secret service came under Israeli media fire for a double humiliation – of failing to kill the Hamas leader without being caught and of being forced to release the founder of Hamas from jail in a prisoner exchange deal. Kill Him Silently is the story behind Mossad's bungled bid to assassinate Meshaal and the part the operation played in the Palestinian group's rise to power.
 
"Fathi Shaqaqi: Don't Kill Him in Damascus | Al Jazeera World"

What Killed Arafat? l Al Jazeera Investigations

In this major investigation, Al Jazeera reveals new evidence suggesting Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was poisoned. This documentary centres on scientific analysis of Arafat’s personal effects, which he wore and kept close to him in his final days. Scientists from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland discover elevated levels of polonium on Arafat’s effects. Polonium is a radioactive element that can be used as a poison. This project also releases, for the first time, Yasser Arafat’s full medical records. It includes a one-hour film, interactive features and exclusive documents and articles.

"Assassination in Tunis | Al Jazeera World"

Khalil al-Wazir, better known in the Arab world as Abu Jihad, was a key figure in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), helping found Fatah in the late 1950s. For years, he was the effective deputy to PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. He was shot dead by Israeli agents in an audacious commando raid in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, in 1988. Israel denied responsibility for nearly 25 years until 2012, when an Israeli newspaper published an interview with Israeli soldier Nahum Lev, who killed Abu Jihad, eventually revealing the truth. This film, Assassination in Tunis, hears from both sides of the story and traces the assassination in detail: How Israeli commandos made a beach landing in Tunis under direction from Mossad, Israeli national intelligence, and overran the villa where Abu Jihad was staying. Moments later, Abu Jihad was killed in multiple rounds of gunfire. His widow, Intisar al-Wazir, offers witness testimony to these final moments of Abu Jihad's life. The Tunis raid that finally ended Abu Jihad's life was a high-risk venture for the Israeli special forces. They sent a hit squad to a foreign country to kill a prominent Arab figure and escaped undetected. However, Nahum Lev's interview, published after his death, raised almost as many questions as it answered, including whether Israel had acted alone or had help from inside Tunisia.

image

Meir Dagan, former head of Israel's spy agency Mossad, is pictured in Jerusalem on Dec. 18, 2006.

Former Israeli Spy Chief Meir Dagan Dies - WSJ

The former head of Israel’s Mossad led operations that disrupted Iran’s nuclear weapons development

.Israel previously said al-Sinwar must be hunted down in the wake of the October 7 attacks, in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed by Hamas gunmen, along with Mohammed Deif, the shadowy leader of Hamas' military wing. But a senior aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told NBC News that Tel-Aviv could allow al-Sinwar and other top Hamas officials to live in exile, provided all Israeli hostages in Gaza are released.
 
 
Israel is said to be considering a deal which would see a top Hamas chief involved in planning the October 7 attacks to go free in exchange for a release of all remaining hostages. Yahya al-Sinwar has ruled the political wing of the Palestinian movement in Gaza since 2017 and has a long history of orchestrating attacks on Israel. He served 22 years in prison after he was convicted of planning the killing of two Israelis in 1989 and was only released as part of a prisoner exchange in 2011.
Israel's four-month-old air and ground offensive - among the most destructive in recent history - has killed over 27,000 Palestinians, driven most people from their homes and pushed a quarter of the population toward starvation. Netanyahu has said the offensive will continue and expand until 'total victory' over Hamas, which started the war by launching a wide-ranging attack into southern Israel on October 7 in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 250 hostage.
But visiting Secretary of State Antony Blinken said an agreement was still possible and that negotiations would continue, the latest sign of a growing divide between the two close allies on the way forward. A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Thursday for more negotiations. Netanyahu is under mounting pressure from families of the hostages and the wider public to bring them home, even if it requires a deal with Hamas. At least one senior Israeli official has acknowledged that saving the captives and destroying Hamas might be incompatible. Hamas is still holding over 130 hostages, but around 30 of them are believed to be dead, with the vast majority killed on October 7. The group is widely believed to be holding the captives in tunnels deep underground and using them as human shields for its top leaders.
Israel 'considers letting top Hamas chief flee in return for hostages'
Israel is said to be considering a deal which would see a top Hamas chief involved in planning the October 7 attacks to go free in exchange for a release of all remaining hostages. Yahya al-Sinwar has ruled the political wing of the Palestinian movement in Gaza since 2017 and has a long history of orchestrating attacks on Israel. He served 22 years in prison after he was convicted of planning the killing of two Israelis in 1989 and was only released as part of a prisoner exchange in 2011.
  • USA Weekly News

  • lord Jacob Rothschild from en.wikipedia.org
  • https://www.inltv.co.uk/index.php/israel-s-zionist-state-real-power
  • ISRAEL WAS FOUNDED BY, AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN CONTROLLED BY, THE ROTHSCHILDS AND THE REST OF THE ELITE. THE “JEWISH HOMELAND” SCAM IS JUST A SMOKESCREEN AND JEWISH PEOPLE ARE PAWNS IN THE GAME.

      Israel's Zionist State Real Power

    See  USA Weekly News 

    • An insider in the Five Eyes Spy Security Alliance Network  has spoken out exposing Lord  Jacob Rothschild and his private security agency Mossad are behind controlling and financing Hamas and the 7th October 2023  attack in Israel and influencing 13 Western Powers to stop humanitarian funding to Palestinians in Gaza 
    • https://www.inltv.co.uk/index.
  • Rothschild's Choice For US President and Israel President
  • https://www.inltv.co.uk/index.php/donald-trump-expected-to-be-the-next-us-president
  • Lord Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild
    British investment banker. Both the presidents of Israel and the USA both act under instructions of Jacob Rothschild
    "The fourth Baron de Rothschild, Lord Jacob Rothschild of Great Britain, has been called the 21st Century's "King of Israel." He and other Rothschilds preside over the planet's greatest banking cartel, and Wall Street firms Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citibank, and others bow to Rothschild dictates. Politicians in world capitals, Washington, D.C., London, Paris, and Tokyo grovel before their awesome power..."... James Kleck Senior INLTV News Investigator
     
    "....phone calls to Joe Biden US President and 
    Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel from Lord Jacob Rothschild, Israel's Genocide on the Palestinian People in Gaza and the West Bank would immediately stop.. unfortunately the protesters against the Israel Gaza War are not publicly demanding the boss of bosses Lord Jacob Rothschild, to order the stopping of Israel's Genocide on the Palestinian People in Gaza and the West Bank ... the public rhetoric between Joe Biden US President and 
    Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel  about the USA calling for a two state solution is just shadow boxing....no prime minster of the USA or Israel is appointed without the approval of Lord Jacob Rothschild .... see historical INLNews article 'Obama Rothschild's Choice' .. see "... James Kleck Senior INLTV News Investigator
    • Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, attends a demonstration held to mark Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day, a commemorative day in support of the Palestinian people celebrated annually on the last Friday of the Muslim month of Ramadan, in Gaza City on April 14.
    • Yahya Sinwar shadowy Hamas leader behind the war against Israel
    • Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, attends a demonstration held to mark Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day, a commemorative day in support of the Palestinian people celebrated annually on the last Friday of the Muslim month of Ramadan, in Gaza City on April 14.
    • New INLTV World News book and film "The Gate Is Open" exposes the shocking reality of the terms of Israel and Mossad agreeing to the release from a life sentence prison sentence on murder convictions of Hamas Military Leader Yahya Sinwar accused of being behind the 7th October 2023 Hamas Attack In Israel
    • Son of Hamas

    • Mosab Hassan Yousef
    • Son of Hamas - Mosab Hassan Yousef publicly states He Has Worked for Israel's Security Agency Mossad for 10 years 
    • Front Cover
    • Tyndale House Publishers2 Mar 2010 - Biography & Autobiography
      Since he was a small boy, Mosab Hassan Yousef has had an inside view of the deadly terrorist group Hamas. The oldest son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a founding member of Hamas and its most popular leader, young Mosab assisted his father for years in his political activities while being groomed to assume his legacy, politics, status . . . and power. But everything changed when Mosab turned away from terror and violence, and embraced instead the teachings of another famous Middle East leader. In Son of Hamas, Mosab Yousef-now called "Joseph"-reveals new information about the world's most dangerous terrorist organization and unveils the truth about his own role, his agonizing separation from family and homeland, the dangerous decision to make his newfound faith public, and his belief that the Christian mandate to "love your enemies" is the only way to peace in the Middle East.
    Zoology and zebras: Walter Rothschild and his museum – Waddesdon ManorNPG x185031; Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild ...
    Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, Baron de Rothschild, FRS (8 February 1868 – 27 August 1937) was a British banker, politician
  • INLTV News Secret Investigation Report shows how and why the real powerbase behind the Israel Gaza War and Israel's Genocide Aims on the Palestinian People in Gaza and the West Bank is connected to Lord Jacob Rothschild, and  the former British Zionist Jewish Leader Baron Lionel Walter Rothschild and the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which lead to " the formation of Israel  in 1948,  an episode that resulted in the ethnic cleansing of some 750,000 Palestinians from their land..."

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117333&sectionid=351020202

'Israel assassinates top Hamas commander in Dubai'
Fri, 29 Jan 2010 
Israel has assassinated a senior Hamas military commander in Dubai, an official in the Palestinian resistance group says. 
Damascus-based Hamas media official, Izzat al-Rishq has told Press TV that Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was killed by Israeli agents on January 20th. 
According to one of his brothers, Mabhuh was killed by electric shock after an electrical appliance was held to his head. 
"The first results of a joint investigation by Hamas and the (United Arab) Emirates show he was killed by an electrical appliance that was held to his head," Fayed al-Mabhuh told AFP. 
"Material was sent to a Paris laboratory which confirmed he was killed by electric shock," he added. 
Al-Mabhouh was a founder of the Al-Qassam Brigades. 
Al-Rishq warned that Israeli will pay dearly for the murder at a due time. 
He further pointed out that Mabhouh, who had been living in Syria since 1989, was assassinated a day after he arrived in Dubai. 
Hamas can not offer more information at present about how he was assassinated, Rishq concluded. 
Hamas says the burial ceremony will be held in Damascus on Friday. 
 

Invasion of Gaza Border City Looms as Biden Calls Israel’s Offensive ‘Over the Top’

Washington says it wouldn’t support expanded operations in Rafah, a refuge for more than a million displaced Palestinians

The rubble of a building hit in Rafah, southern Gaza.
 

JERUSALEM—The Israeli military pressed its campaign against Hamas around the border city of Rafah, as President Biden signaled increasing discomfort with Israel’s Gaza offensive, calling it “over the top.”

U.S. officials have pointed to military operations in Rafah, where more than a million people have sought refuge, as a particular point of contention. “Military operations right now would be a disaster for those people, and it’s not something that we would support,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday.

It’s Time to Strike Back at Iran

Appeasement has failed. The U.S. needs to restore deterrence in the Middle East and elsewhere.


Wonder Land: Iran, Russia and China know that both Joe Biden and Donald Trump are weak adversaries, not least because they have failed to raise U.S. defense capacity to the level of an unmistakable deterrent.

Escalating Iranian aggression cost the lives of three U.S. soldiers in Jordan. These intolerable acts of violence by the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism can no longer go unpunished. The U.S. must respond with an immediate and unequivocal show of force that will begin to restore the deterrence that has decayed not only in the Middle East but around the world.

Over the past three years, President Biden’s diplomats have repeatedly made overtures and concessions to Iran, which has only emboldened the regime’s aggressive behavior. The Biden administration rolled back the Trump administration’s maximum-pressure strategy, agreed to a $6 billion ransom payment for five American hostages, allowed Iran to export more oil to China than ever, and removed the Houthis’ terrorist designation. Worse, the Biden administration has continued trying to revive the Iran nuclear deal, which would put Tehran back on the fast track to obtaining nuclear weapons.

The result of this appeasement is war, beginning Oct. 7 with Hamas’s atrocities against Israel. In the four months since, the Biden administration has continued to resort to appeasement by declining to respond forcefully to Iran’s escalation and attacks.

The mullahs have unceremoniously snapped every olive branch Mr. Biden and his diplomats extended. It is past time to accept that this approach has utterly failed and cost American lives. To keep our soldiers and our nation safe, the Biden administration must adopt a more robust stance toward Iran.

 
Peace in jeopardy, Netanyahu hails settlement work 
Fri, 29 Jan 2010 

Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Friday Tel Aviv's defiance to international calls to freeze the illegal settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territories. 
"We are continuing to build [settlements]," Netanyahu said just after he planted a tree in Ariel — the fourth largest settlement city in the West Bank. 
"I came here after I was in Ma'ale Adumim and in Gush Etzion where we planted trees. We said in a clear way that we will stay here in any future final status agreement with the Palestinians. We need to help it develop," he said. "These will be an integral part of Israel and I say the same thing today in Ariel, the capital of Samaria [Israeli term for the northern West Bank]." 
The pledge comes as international efforts to revive long-stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have reached a dead-end with Tel Aviv's persistence in refusing the precondition of a full permanent freeze on settlement expansions.  Some of Israel's Arab neighbors have made peace with Tel Aviv, Netanyahu said, expressing hope that other Arab leaders would follow in their track.  The Palestinian Authority Thursday ruled out negotiations with the Israeli side as a waste of time and a green light for more Israeli settlements.  The Palestinians are demanding Israel to adhere to the 2002 Road Map for the Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia, which requires Israel to "dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and also freeze all settlement activities."  There are currently 121 Israeli settlements and more than 100 Israeli outposts built illegally on Palestinian land occupied by Israel since 1967.  MRS/HGH/MD

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117364&sectionid=351020501
 
Obama: I will never waver from supporting Israel
Fri, 29 Jan 2010 

Although US President Barack Obama vaguely acknowledged Israel as the cause of Palestinian "plight," he affirmed that he will never waver from support for Tel Aviv. 
Obama made the remarks in a speech to a crowd in a gymnasium in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday when he was asked about his policy on Israel. 
"Here's my view: Israel is one of our strongest allies. It is a vibrant democracy. It shares links with us in all sorts of ways. It is critical for us, and I will never waver from Israel's security." Obama said. 
Obama referred to Israel as a "vibrant democracy," while Israel does not even have a constitution, "since the Constituent Assembly and the first Knesset were unable to put a constitution together," reads a statement on the Israeli Parliament (Knesset)'s website. 
 
US issues China ultimatum on Iran sanctions
Fri, 29 Jan 2010 

In unusually blatant remarks aimed at China, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday assailed the country for not joining the US-led front in imposing fresh sanctions against Iran over its nuclear work.  Clinton said she understood China's unwillingness to impose new penalties on Iran, one of the country's biggest oil suppliers, but warned against “longer-term implications” if Iran did not stop its nuclear program.  "We understand that right now it seems counterproductive to you to sanction a country from which you get so much of the natural resources your growing economy needs. But think about the longer-term implications."
 
INLNews.com News articles in 2009

Israel shells near UN school, killing at least 30

By IBRAHIM BARZAK and STEVE WEIZMAN –
//www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioi_0jtO9RjMwPNRoXNCndRPRq3gD95HTJE00

 A Palestinian carries a wounded girl who according to Palestinian medical sources was injured in Israeli forces' operations in Gaza, to Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. An Israeli bombardment hit outside a U.N. school where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge on Tuesday, and Palestinian medics said at least 34 people died as international outrage grew over civilian deaths. (AP Photo/AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
 Israeli soldiers carry the flag-draped coffin of Maj. Dagan Wertman, 32, who died in an operation in the Gaza Strip on Monday, during his funeral at the Mt. Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. Wertman and two other soldiers were killed by an Israeli tank shell in an apparent friendly-fire incident, Israeli sources said. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
 Palestinians carry a wounded boy who according to Palestinian medical sources was injured in Israeli forces' operations in Gaza, to Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. An Israeli bombardment hit outside a U.N. school where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge on Tuesday, and Palestinian medics said at least 34 people died as international outrage grew over civilian deaths. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
Smoke caused by explosions from Israeli forces' operations rises from buildings on the outskirts of Gaza City, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. Israeli mortar shells struck outside a U.N. school where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge on Tuesday, killing at least 30 people, many of them children whose parents wailed in grief at a hospital filled with dead and wounded. (AP Photos/Hatem Moussa)
 A Palestinian boy walks on the rubble of a building used by Hamas security forces, destroyed by Israeli forces' operations in Gaza City, Tuesday, Jan. 6. 2009. An Israeli bombardment struck outside a U.N. school where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge on Tuesday, the U.N. and Palestinian medics said, killing at least 30 people, many of them children whose parents wailed in grief at a hospital filled with dead and wounded. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
 An Israeli soldier prays as he stands next to tanks at a staging area near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. An Israeli bombardment struck outside a U.N. school where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge on Tuesday, the U.N. and Palestinian medics said, killing at least 30 people, many of them children whose parents wailed in grief at a hospital filled with dead and wounded. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
 Palestinians inspect the rubble of a destroyed building following Israeli forces' operations in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. An Israeli bombardment hit outside a U.N. school where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge on Tuesday, and Palestinian medics said at least 34 people died as international outrage grew over civilian deaths. (AP Photo/Khaled Omar)
Israeli mourners comfort each other during the funeral of Staff Sgt. Nitai Stern, 21, who died in an operation in the Gaza Strip on Monday, during his funeral at the Mt. Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. Stern and two other soldiers were killed by an Israeli tank shell in an apparent friendly-fire incident, Israeli sources said. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Israeli soldiers react during the funeral of Staff Sgt. Nitai Stern, 21, who died in an operation in the Gaza Strip on Monday, during his funeral at the Mt. Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. Stern and two other soldiers were killed by an Israeli tank shell in an apparent friendly-fire incident, Israeli sources said. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
A Palestinian carries a wounded boy who according to Palestinian medical sources was injured in Israeli forces' operations in Gaza, to Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. An Israeli bombardment hit outside a U.N. school where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge on Tuesday, and Palestinian medics said at least 34 people died as international outrage grew over civilian deaths. (AP Photo/Ashraf Amra)

GAZA CITY, Gaza (AP) — Israeli mortar shells struck outside a U.N. school where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge on Tuesday, killing at least 30 people — many of them children whose parents wailed in grief at a hospital filled with dead and wounded.

The Israeli army said its soldiers came under fire from militants hiding in the school and responded. It accused Gaza's Hamas rulers of "cynically" using civilians as human shields. Residents confirmed the account, saying militants were seen staging attacks from the area.

Despite international criticism over civilian deaths and a diplomatic push to broker a cease-fire, Israeli said it would push on with the offensive against Hamas.

Israeli ground forces edged closer to two major Gaza towns, and a total of 70 Palestinians were killed Tuesday — with just two confirmed as militants, health officials in Gaza said. A top U.N. official called for an investigation into the civilian death toll.

Past Israeli ground offensives have been cut short when an errant shell or missile hit a civilian center, leading to international outcries that forced Israel to stand down.

The shelling Tuesday in the northern town of Jebaliya marked the second time in hours a U.N. school came under attack; three people were killed in an attack on another U.N. school in Gaza City on Monday night.

Tuesday's assault was the deadliest since Israel sent ground forces into Gaza last weekend as part of a larger offensive against Hamas that has killed more than 600 Palestinians, according to local hospital officials. Nearly half of the dead are civilians, according to U.N. and Palestinian officials.

"There's nowhere safe in Gaza. Everyone here is terrorized and traumatized," John Ging, the top U.N. official in Gaza, said after the Monday night attack on the compound of a U.N. school. The school has served as a shelter for refugees fleeing the 11-day offensive.

A Palestinian rocket — one of two dozen fired from Gaza on Tuesday — wounded an Israeli infant.

Dr. Bassam Abu Warda, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, said 36 people were killed in the Israeli strike on the U.N. school in Jebaliya. The United Nations confirmed 30 were killed and 55 injured by tank shells.

In a statement, the Israeli army said an initial investigation found that "mortar shells were fired from within the school at IDF soldiers. The force responded with mortars at the source of fire. The Hamas cynically uses civilians as human shields."

The army said two Hamas militants — Imad Abu Askar and Hasan Abu Askar — were among the dead.

Two neighborhood residents confirmed the Israeli account, saying a group of militants fired mortars from a street near the school, then fled into a crowd of people in the streets. Israel then opened fire.

The residents, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared for their safety, said the Abu Askar brothers were known low-level Hamas militants.

The attack occurred at mid-afternoon, when many people were out and about. Many people apparently stepped outside the shelter to get some air, thinking an area around a school was safe.

Palestinian militants frequently fire from residential areas. However, Mohammed Nassar, a medic who treated the wounded, said he saw no gunmen among the casualties.

Footage broadcast on Hamas' Al Aqsa TV showed gruesome scenes at the hospital. At first, medics carried in at least five younger boys who were laid out on the hospital floor. It was not clear whether they were alive.

Other medics then started unloading bodies of men who had been stacked up in the back of an ambulance, three high, and were dragged without stretchers. One man's legs had been turned into bloody stumps that dragged on the ground as he was pulled from the ambulance.

The emergency room was packed, with all beds occupied and barely a patch of ground unoccupied by either a body or a doctor. In other rooms, there were bloodstains and bodies on the floor. Medics ran in to take pulses.

"I saw a lot of women and children wheeled in," said Fares Ghanem, another hospital official. "A lot of the wounded were missing limbs and a lot of the dead were in pieces."

Majed Hamdan, an AP photographer, said he rushed to the scene shortly after the attacks. At the hospital, he said, many children were among the dead.

"I saw women and men — parents — slapping their faces in grief, screaming, some of them collapsed to the floor. They knew their children were dead," he said. "In the morgue, most of the killed appeared to be children. In the hospital, there wasn't enough space for the wounded."

He said there were marks of five separate explosions, all in the area near the school.

U.N. officials say they provided their location coordinates to Israel's army to ensure their buildings in Gaza are not targeted.

Speaking shortly after the first attack, Maxwell Gaylard, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, demanded an investigation.

"As one of the most densely populated places in the world, it is clear that more civilians will be killed," he said. "These tragic incidents need to be investigated, and if international humanitarian law has been contravened, those responsible must held accountable."

In Britain, Prime Minister Gordon Brown called it "the darkest moment yet for the Middle East." He said he had been in touch with world leaders, including from Egypt and Turkey, to discuss ways to forge a cease-fire.

Israel launched its offensive on Dec. 27 to halt repeated Palestinian rocket attacks on its southern towns. After a weeklong air campaign, Israeli ground forces invaded Gaza over the weekend.

Ten Israelis have died since the operation began, including a soldier who was shot on Tuesday.

United Nations staff estimate around 15,000 people have fled to 23 U.N.-run schools they have turned into makeshift shelters. U.N. food aid has halted in the northern Gaza Strip because officials fear residents would risk their lives to reach distribution centers.

Tanks rumbled closer to the towns of Khan Younis and Dir el Balah in south and central Gaza but were still several kilometers (miles) outside, witnesses said, adding that the sounds of fighting could be heard from around the Israeli positions. Israel has encircled Gaza City, the area's biggest city.

The civilian death toll has drawn international condemnations and raised concerns of a humanitarian disaster. Many Gazans are without electricity or running water, thousands have been displaced from their homes and residents say food supplies are running thin.

"This is not a crisis, it's a disaster," said water utility official Munzir Shiblak. "We are not even able to respond to the cry of the people." He said about 800,000 residents in Gaza City and northern parts of the territory had no access to running water from Tuesday. Gaza's overall population is 1.4 million people.

Israel says it won't stop the assault until its southern towns are freed of the threat of Palestinian rocket fire and it receives international guarantees that Hamas, a militant group backed by Iran and Syria, will not restock its weapons stockpile.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he hoped to stop the offensive soon, but said it would depend on Hamas' willingness to stop attacks and stop smuggling weapons into Gaza from Egypt.

"We have no interest in endlessly continuing the campaign. It will stop when the conditions that are essential for Israel's security are met," he said in the rocket-scarred southern Israeli town of Sderot.

The army says it has dealt a harsh blow to Hamas, killing 130 militants in the past two days and greatly reducing the rocket fire. Hamas is believed to have 20,000 fighters.

Israeli forces have seized the main Gaza highway in several places, cutting the strip into northern, southern and central sectors. Israel also has taken over high-rise buildings in Gaza City and destroyed dozens of smuggling tunnels — Hamas' main lifeline — along the Egyptian border.

A high-level European Union delegation met with President Shimon Peres on Tuesday in a futile bid to end the violence. Commissioner Benita Ferraro-Waldner acknowledged Israel's right to self-defense, but said its response was disproportionate.

"We have come to Israel in order to advance the initiative for a humanitarian cease-fire and I will tell you, Mr. President, that you have a serious problem with international advocacy, and that Israel's image is being destroyed," she said, according to a statement from Peres' office.

Israeli leaders say there is no humanitarian crisis and that they have allowed the delivery of vital supplies.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy left Israel after a day of meetings with leaders.

Sarkozy continued to Damascus, urging Syria on Tuesday to pressure Hamas to end the fighting. His Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, slammed the Israeli assault on the coastal strip as a "war crime" and "barbaric," an "aggression" that Israel must halt.

In Washington, the State Department said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was traveling to the United Nations Tuesday to try to broker a sustainable cease-fire.

She planned meetings with Arab and European diplomats to lobby for a three-tiered U.S. truce proposal and will then attend a U.N. Security Council meeting on Gaza, spokesman Sean McCormack said.

Key elements demanded by the U.S.: an end to rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza and securing border crossings between Gaza and Israel and between Gaza and Egypt.

Israel's operation has angered many across the Arab world and has drawn criticism from Turkey, Egypt and Jordan, which have ties with Israel and have been involved in Mideast peacemaking.

Barzak reported from Gaza City, Weizman from Jerusalem. 

 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Mahmoud_Al-Mabhouh#:~:text=The%20day%20following%20al%2DMabhouh%27s,who%20assassinated%20al%2DMabhouh%22

Arrests

Two Palestinians, Ahmad Hasnin, an intelligence operative of the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority (PA), and Anwar Shekhaiber, an employee of the PA in Ramallah, were arrested in Jordan and handed over to Dubai as suspected accomplices to the assassination, suspected of giving logistical assistance such as providing car rentals and hotel bookings.[9][114] Hamas claimed that their arrest was evidence linking the Palestinian Authority to the killing, while the Palestinian Authority retorted by accusing the arrested Palestinians of being members of Hamas.[115]

The two men are reported to be related to one another and to have lived in Gaza until Hamas took over full control of the Strip in 2006. One went straight to Dubai, while the other joined him after first going to Ramallah, where he was sentenced to death by a Palestinian Authority court, a punishment generally handed down to Israeli collaborators.[116] The recruitment of Ahmad Hasnin by the Mossad could have been done when he was imprisoned by Israel for a month in June 2007 for his involvement with Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the military wing for Fatah. He came to the UAE in 2008, according to a family source.[117]

Dubai authorities said that one of the two Palestinians held in custody met a suspect in a suspicious place, time and manner, while the second is closely related to him and was found to have already been sentenced to death by one of the Palestinian parties. The second suspect is wanted by Hamas. They are both being held to ensure that no one comes to execute them.[118]

Haaretz report based on information from an unnamed Arab diplomatic source said that Dubai police had asked Syria to detain Mohammed Nasser and other Hamas men for questioning. According to media reports, Nasser was in Dubai in the days before al-Mabhouh's killing and was intimately familiar with his schedule and whereabouts.[119]

Dubai Police chief Dahi Khalfan said on 3 March 2010 he requested for the Dubai prosecutor to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the head of Mossad, Meir Dagan for the murder.[120]

He also announced Canada had arrested a suspect who "was among the preparatory group which arrived in the country and left it before the crime was committed." The suspect was reported to be one amongst a number of suspects for whom Interpol has issued red corner notices on behalf of the UAE.[121] The following day, however, the Canadian embassy in the UAE denied this but said they were liaising with authorities back in Canada to verify the status of the arrest.[122]

Alexander Verin/Uri Brodsky

On 4 June 2010, Polish police arrested a man at Warsaw airport carrying a false passport with the name Uri Brodsky, who was wanted by German authorities.[123] A European Arrest Warrant from Germany specified that Brodsky, also known as Alexander Verin (or Varin), was "suspected of being involved in illegally obtaining a [German] passport" for another man known as Michael Bodenheimer, who is alleged to have taken part in Mahmoud al-Mabhouh's murder.[124] A Polish court approved Brodsky's extradition to Germany on 7 July, pending appeal.[125][126] However, the extradition was approved on the basis that Brodsky would not face German charges of espionage – instead he would only face the lesser charge of falsely-obtaining documents.[127] Brodsky was transferred to German custody on 12 August, released on €100,000 bail on 13 August, and flown back to Israel on 14 August.[128][129] The German prosecutor indicated that Brodsky would not have to face trial after all, but instead that "the matter can now be dealt with by written proceedings," most likely resulting in a fine.[130] At the end of 2010, Germany suspended the case of falsifying documents in lieu of a €60,000 fine; however, a German arrest warrant on the espionage charges remains in effect.[131]

Arrest of a top suspectedit

On 11 October 2010, The National of Abu Dhabi published an interview with Dubai's police chief Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, in which he claims that a western country had arrested a top suspect of killing al-Mabhouh about two months earlier. The ambassador of the western country does not want to name the country and the name of the arrested suspect. Tamim expressed frustration at the lack of detail: "Why is it that every time an Israeli is involved in a crime, everyone goes mute? We want anyone who is dealing with this case to deal with it as a security case, and not to pay attention to any 

Israel is said to be considering a deal which would see a top Hamas chief involved in planning the October 7 attacks to go free in exchange for a release of all remaining hostages. Yahya al-Sinwar has ruled the political wing of the Palestinian movement in Gaza since 2017 and has a long history of orchestrating attacks on Israel. He served 22 years in prison after he was convicted of planning the killing of two Israelis in 1989 and was only released as part of a prisoner exchange in 2011.
But visiting Secretary of State Antony Blinken said an agreement was still possible and that negotiations would continue, the latest sign of a growing divide between the two close allies on the way forward. A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Thursday for more negotiations. Netanyahu is under mounting pressure from families of the hostages and the wider public to bring them home, even if it requires a deal with Hamas. At least one senior Israeli official has acknowledged that saving the captives and destroying Hamas might be incompatible. Hamas is still holding over 130 hostages, but around 30 of them are believed to be dead, with the vast majority killed on October 7. The group is widely believed to be holding the captives in tunnels deep underground and using them as human shields for its top leaders.
Israel 'considers letting top Hamas chief flee in return for hostages'
Israel 'considers letting top Hamas chief flee in return for hostages'
Israel is said to be considering a deal which would see a top Hamas chief involved in planning the October 7 attacks to go free in exchange for a release of all remaining hostages. Yahya al-Sinwar has ruled the political wing of the Palestinian movement in Gaza since 2017 and has a long history of orchestrating attacks on Israel. He served 22 years in prison after he was convicted of planning the killing of two Israelis in 1989 and was only released as part of a prisoner exchange in 2011.
Israel previously said al-Sinwar must be hunted down in the wake of the October 7 attacks, in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed by Hamas gunmen, along with Mohammed Deif, the shadowy leader of Hamas' military wing. But a senior aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told NBC News that Tel-Aviv could allow al-Sinwar and other top Hamas officials to live in exile, provided all Israeli hostages in Gaza are released.
Israel 'considers letting top Hamas chief flee in return for hostages'
Israel previously said al-Sinwar must be hunted down in the wake of the October 7 attacks, in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed by Hamas gunmen, along with Mohammed Deif, the shadowy leader of Hamas' military wing. But a senior aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told NBC News that Tel-Aviv could allow al-Sinwar and other top Hamas officials to live in exile, provided all Israeli hostages in Gaza are released.
 
The deal would also see the implementation of a 'deradicalized' Palestinian governing body in the besieged territory - effectively spelling the end of Hamas in Gaza - according to Israeli media reports. This shocking development comes as Netanyahu rejected the latest ceasefire deal proposed by Hamas, vowing his Israeli Defence Forces would achieve 'total victory' over the militant group in Gaza.
Israel 'considers letting top Hamas chief flee in return for hostages'
The deal would also see the implementation of a 'deradicalized' Palestinian governing body in the besieged territory - effectively spelling the end of Hamas in Gaza - according to Israeli media reports. This shocking development comes as Netanyahu rejected the latest ceasefire deal proposed by Hamas, vowing his Israeli Defence Forces would achieve 'total victory' over the militant group in Gaza.
 
Sinwar, a wiry, grey 61-year-old veteran, is Hamas' s top leader inside the Palestinian territory who learned fluent Hebrew during years in Israeli prisons where he carefully studied his enemy. Israeli officials have vowed to kill him - Netanyahu himself said in the days following October 7 it was 'only a matter of time' before the IDF hunted him down. But four months on from the attacks and Sinwar remains alive, in hiding and at the helm of Hamas' gunmen as they continue to battle Israeli forces. He also controls the group's negotiations over the fate of the remaining hostages captured during the October 7 attacks.
Israel 'considers letting top Hamas chief flee in return for hostages'
Sinwar, a wiry, grey 61-year-old veteran, is Hamas' s top leader inside the Palestinian territory who learned fluent Hebrew during years in Israeli prisons where he carefully studied his enemy. Israeli officials have vowed to kill him - Netanyahu himself said in the days following October 7 it was 'only a matter of time' before the IDF hunted him down. But four months on from the attacks and Sinwar remains alive, in hiding and at the helm of Hamas' gunmen as they continue to battle Israeli forces. He also controls the group's negotiations over the fate of the remaining hostages captured during the October 7 attacks.
If Sinwar and other top Hamas officials were allowed to flee Gaza as part of an Israeli deal, it would echo the 1982 departure of Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), from Beirut amid a siege by Israeli forces. Arafat's departure from the Lebanese capital marked a significant moment in Palestinian history, symbolizing the defeat of the PLO's military presence in Lebanon and the loss of a key stronghold. But in the meantime, Israel's attacks in Gaza continue unabated.
 
Israel 'considers letting top Hamas chief flee in return for hostages'
If Sinwar and other top Hamas officials were allowed to flee Gaza as part of an Israeli deal, it would echo the 1982 departure of Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), from Beirut amid a siege by Israeli forces. Arafat's departure from the Lebanese capital marked a significant moment in Palestinian history, symbolizing the defeat of the PLO's military presence in Lebanon and the loss of a key stronghold. But in the meantime, Israel's attacks in Gaza continue unabated.
 
IDF airstrikes killed over a dozen people overnight in Rafah in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, hours after Netanyahu rejected Hamas' cease-fire terms and vowed to expand his armed forces' offensive. More than half of strip's population has fled to Rafah, on the mostly sealed border with Egypt, which is also the main entry point for humanitarian aid.
Israel 'considers letting top Hamas chief flee in return for hostages'
IDF airstrikes killed over a dozen people overnight in Rafah in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, hours after Netanyahu rejected Hamas' cease-fire terms and vowed to expand his armed forces' offensive. More than half of strip's population has fled to Rafah, on the mostly sealed border with Egypt, which is also the main entry point for humanitarian aid.
 
Egypt has warned that any ground operation there or mass displacement across the border would undermine its four-decade-old peace treaty with Israel. The overnight strikes killed at least 13 people, including two women and five children, according to the Kuwaiti Hospital, which received the bodies. At the scene of one of the strikes, residents used their cellphone flashlights as they dug through the rubble with pick-axes and their bare hands. 'I wish we could collect their whole bodies instead of just pieces,' Mohammed Abu Habib, a neighbor who witnessed the strike, told reporters.
Israel 'considers letting top Hamas chief flee in return for hostages'
Egypt has warned that any ground operation there or mass displacement across the border would undermine its four-decade-old peace treaty with Israel. The overnight strikes killed at least 13 people, including two women and five children, according to the Kuwaiti Hospital, which received the bodies. At the scene of one of the strikes, residents used their cellphone flashlights as they dug through the rubble with pick-axes and their bare hands. 'I wish we could collect their whole bodies instead of just pieces,' Mohammed Abu Habib, a neighbor who witnessed the strike, told reporters.
Israel's four-month-old air and ground offensive - among the most destructive in recent history - has killed over 27,000 Palestinians, driven most people from their homes and pushed a quarter of the population toward starvation. Netanyahu has said the offensive will continue and expand until 'total victory' over Hamas, which started the war by launching a wide-ranging attack into southern Israel on October 7 in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 250 hostage.
Israel 'considers letting top Hamas chief flee in return for hostages'©Provided by Daily Mail
Israel's four-month-old air and ground offensive - among the most destructive in recent history - has killed over 27,000 Palestinians, driven most people from their homes and pushed a quarter of the population toward starvation. Netanyahu has said the offensive will continue and expand until 'total victory' over Hamas, which started the war by launching a wide-ranging attack into southern Israel on October 7 in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 250 hostage.
Israel has also vowed to bring back the over 100 captives still held by Hamas after most of the rest were freed during a cease-fire in November in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. But both of those goals appear increasingly elusive, as Hamas re-emerges in parts of northern Gaza, which was the first target of the offensive and suffered widespread destruction. Israel has only rescued one hostage, while Hamas says several have been killed in airstrikes or failed rescue missions.
Israel 'considers letting top Hamas chief flee in return for hostages'
Israel has also vowed to bring back the over 100 captives still held by Hamas after most of the rest were freed during a cease-fire in November in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. But both of those goals appear increasingly elusive, as Hamas re-emerges in parts of northern Gaza, which was the first target of the offensive and suffered widespread destruction. Israel has only rescued one hostage, while Hamas says several have been killed in airstrikes or failed rescue missions.
International aid organizations have warned that any major operation in Rafah would compound what is already a humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged coastal enclave. 'If they aren't killed in the fighting, Palestinian children, women and men will be at risk of dying by starvation or disease,' said Bob Kitchen, of the International Rescue Committee. 'There will no longer be a single ''safe'' area for Palestinians to go to.' The United States, Qatar and Egypt - three of the key parties involved in brokering ceasefire talks, are trying to hash out another agreement to ensure the release the remaining hostages.
Israel 'considers letting top Hamas chief flee in return for hostages'
International aid organizations have warned that any major operation in Rafah would compound what is already a humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged coastal enclave. 'If they aren't killed in the fighting, Palestinian children, women and men will be at risk of dying by starvation or disease,' said Bob Kitchen, of the International Rescue Committee. 'There will no longer be a single ''safe'' area for Palestinians to go to.' The United States, Qatar and Egypt - three of the key parties involved in brokering ceasefire talks, are trying to hash out another agreement to ensure the release the remaining hostages.
 
But Hamas has demanded an end to the war, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile militants. Netanyahu rejected those demands as 'delusional' on Tuesday and said Israel would never agree to any deal that leaves Hamas in partial or full control of the territory it has ruled since 2007.
Israel 'considers letting top Hamas chief flee in return for hostages'
But Hamas has demanded an end to the war, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile militants. Netanyahu rejected those demands as 'delusional' on Tuesday and said Israel would never agree to any deal that leaves Hamas in partial or full control of the territory it has ruled since 2007.
But visiting Secretary of State Antony Blinken said an agreement was still possible and that negotiations would continue, the latest sign of a growing divide between the two close allies on the way forward. A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Thursday for more negotiations. Netanyahu is under mounting pressure from families of the hostages and the wider public to bring them home, even if it requires a deal with Hamas. At least one senior Israeli official has acknowledged that saving the captives and destroying Hamas might be incompatible. Hamas is still holding over 130 hostages, but around 30 of them are believed to be dead, with the vast majority killed on October 7. The group is widely believed to be holding the captives in tunnels deep underground and using them as human shields for its top leaders.
Israel 'considers letting top Hamas chief flee in return for hostages'
But visiting Secretary of State Antony Blinken said an agreement was still possible and that negotiations would continue, the latest sign of a growing divide between the two close allies on the way forward. A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Thursday for more negotiations. Netanyahu is under mounting pressure from families of the hostages and the wider public to bring them home, even if it requires a deal with Hamas. At least one senior Israeli official has acknowledged that saving the captives and destroying Hamas might be incompatible. Hamas is still holding over 130 hostages, but around 30 of them are believed to be dead, with the vast majority killed on October 7. The group is widely believed to be holding the captives in tunnels deep underground and using them as human shields for its top leaders.
 
 
 
 
 

The assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh (Arabicمحمود المبحوحMaḥmūd al-Mabḥūḥ; 14 February 1961 – 19 January 2010) took place on 19 January 2010, in a hotel room in DubaiAl-Mabhouh—a co-founder of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas—was wanted by the Israeli government for the kidnapping and murder of two Israeli soldiers in 1989 as well as purchasing arms from Iran for use in Gaza; these have been cited as a possible motive for the assassination.[1]

Assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh
Location Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Date 19 January 2010
Target Mahmoud al-Mabhouh
Attack type
Assassination
Weapons Pillow, muscle relaxant
Deaths 1
Perpetrators 33 people, using forged and fraudulently obtained passports

His assassination attracted international attention in part due to allegations that it was ordered by the Israeli government and carried out by Mossad agents holding fake or fraudulently obtained passports from several European countries and Australia.

The photographs of the 26 suspects and their aliases were subsequently placed on Interpol's most-wanted list. The Dubai police found that 12 of the suspects used British passports, along with six Irish, four French, one German, and three Australian passports.[2][3][4][5][6] Interpol and the Dubai police believed that the suspects stole the identities of real people, mostly Israeli dual citizens.[2][7] Two Palestinians, believed by Hamas to be former Fatah security officers and current employees of a senior Fatah official, were taken into custody in Dubai, on suspicions that one of them provided logistical assistance to the hit team. Despite Hamas's claim, Dubai would not comment on the incident or identify the two Palestinian suspects.

According to initial reports, Al-Mabhouh was drugged,[8] then electrocuted and suffocated.[4] Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim of the Dubai Police Force said the suspects tracked Al-Mabhouh to Dubai from Damascus, Syria. They arrived from different European destinations and stayed at different hotels, presumably to avoid being detected and, with the exception of three of its members suspected of "helping to facilitate" who had left on a ferry for Iran several months before the assassination, departed after the assassination to different countries.[9][4] Dubai's police chief said that he was "99% certain" that the assassination was the work of Israel's Mossad. On 1 March 2010, he stated that he was "sure" that all of the suspects are hiding in Israel.[10][11]

He said that Dubai would ask for an arrest warrant to be issued for Meir Dagan, the head of Mossad, if it is confirmed that the Mossad is involved and responsible for the assassination.[12] The Hamas leadership also holds Israel responsible, and has vowed revenge.[13] Hamas, which is itself on the U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist OrganizationsEuropean Union lists of terrorist organizations, and also considered a terrorist organization by the governments of Israel,[14] and Japan,[15] as is its military arm by the United Kingdom[16] and Australia,[17] requested that Israel be added by the EU to its list because of suspicions that Israel was involved in the assassination.[18]

However, later in March, Dubai police chief said, "I am now completely sure that it was Mossad", and went on to say "I have presented the (Dubai) prosecutor with a request for the arrest of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and the head of Mossad" for the assassination.[19] Khalfan would also suggest that a Hamas associate fed information to Mossad.[20] This was denied by Hamas which blamed Fatah for helping the Mossad hit team.[21]

In March 2010, the British foreign secretary, David Miliband, expelled an Israeli diplomat after the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency discovered that Israel had forged copies of British passports.[22] On 24 May, the Australian government expelled an Israeli diplomat after concluding that there was "no doubt Israel was behind the forgery of four Australian passports" related to the assassination.[23] Similar action was taken by Ireland.[24] Israel has refused to comment on the accusations that its security forces were behind the assassination.[4]

On 30 September 2010, Dubai's police chief Dahi Khalfan said he received death threats from Israel's spy agency Mossad linked to his role in uncovering details of the assassination of al-Mabhouh, but whether such calls existed remains unconfirmed.[25][26][27]

Sequence of events

Titimeline of key events[28]
  19 January 2010
02:29: Team leader arrives in Dubai
15:25: Mabhouh arrives at hotel
15:51: Team reserves opposite room
16:23: Mabhouh exits hotel
20:24: Mabhouh comes back to hotel
  Mabhouh is killed
20:46: Team begins to leave hotel
  20 January 2010
13:30:

Body of Mabhouh discovered

 

 

On 19 January 2010, al-Mabhouh was assassinated in his room in a hotel in Dubai, after being tracked by at least 29 suspects (26 suspects whose passport photos have been released, two arrested Palestinians, and another unnamed suspect),[29] 26 of whom carried forged or fraudulently-obtained passports from various European nations.

The Sunday Times reported that al-Mabhouh's departure from Damascus to Dubai on Emirates Flight no. 912 at 10:05 on 19 January 2010 was tracked by an agent on the ground in Damascus.[30] Salah Bardawil, a Hamas legislator, said al-Mabhouh put himself at risk by booking his trip online and informing family in Gaza of the telephone number of the hotel at which he would be staying on his trip.[31]

Despite reports that al-Mabhouh traveled under a false passport with the fake name "Mahmoud Abdul Raouf Mohammed",[9][30][32] Hamas and Dubai officials maintain that al-Mabhouh entered the country under his own identity at 15:15.[33][34] Normally al-Mabhouh would have been protected by bodyguards, but their arrival was delayed because the guards could not get tickets for the same flight, as "There was no room for them on the flight," said Talal Nasser, a spokesman for Hamas in Damascus. "Therefore, he traveled alone, and the security guards were slated to join him the next day."[35]

According to a 2018 article by Le Monde citing senior French intelligence officials, the Mossad ran the operation to kill Mabhouh out of Paris. The Mossad allegedly set up a makeshift command and control center in a hotel in the Bercy neighborhood of Paris equipped with computers and secure phones.[36] Dubai's police chief, Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim, stated that al-Mabhouh was transiting in Dubai before traveling to China.[37] Upon arrival in Dubai, al-Mabhouh took a taxi to the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel and settled into room 230.[38] He had asked for a room with no balcony and sealed windows, so no one could enter other than through the door. He left the hotel between 16:30 and 17:00, roughly an hour after checking in.[39] What he did during the next three to four hours remains unclear. Dubai's police chief said he did not meet anyone in the emirate and that he went shopping.[37] Meanwhile, the hit squad broke into his room. At 20:24 al-Mabhouh came back to the room,[38] and subsequently failed to answer a call from his wife half an hour later.[39]

An Al Bustan Rotana Hotel room

Hotel surveillance footage was released to the public showing the suspects, who had arrived on separate flights, meeting in the hotel. While the suspects apparently used personal encrypted communication devices among themselves to avoid surveillance,[40] the suspects were alleged by Dubai police to have sent and received a number of SMS messages to telephone numbers in Austria. When al-Mabhouh arrived around 15:00, two suspects dressed in tennis attire followed him to determine which room he had checked into, as well as the number of the room immediately across the hall.

The information is alleged by the Dubai police to have been communicated to a third party, who then telephoned from a different hotel to book room 237.

According to surveillance videos, the individual who checked into 237 did not enter the room, but appears to have given the room key to an accomplice in the lobby of the hotel, and immediately left Dubai, prior to the assassination. Al-Mabhouh, later, left the hotel and while several of the suspects kept watch, it is thought that (a) suspect(s) tried to gain entry to his room.

One of the lookout suspects could be seen on video delaying a tourist who exits the elevator on the second floor at this time, apparently to give other team members time to act. While another suspect distracted the tourist, it is claimed that four suspects entered the victim's hotel room and waited for him to return.

The evidence for this is the fact that four men arrived by elevator and entered the hallway where the victim's room and the alleged perpetrator's rooms were located at this time, and the same four men immediately left after the assassination is supposed to have happened.[citation needed]

A readout of activity that took place on the hotel room's electronic door lock indicated that an attempt was made to reprogram al-Mabhouh's electronic door lock at this time.[citation needed] The investigators believe that the electronic lock on al-Mabhouh's door may have been reprogrammed and that the killers gained entry to his room this way.[41] The locks in question, VingCard Locklink brand,[42] can be accessed and reprogrammed directly at the hotel room door.

According to Dubai Police, he was dead by 21:00 that evening.[34] On 20 January 2010, the following day, a hotel cleaner attempted to gain entry, but found that the door was latched from the inside. A member of hotel security was then called in to open the door. After the door was opened, al-Mabhouh's body was discovered on the bed.[9][30][43] On the drawer next to the bed, the assassins had placed a small bottle of medicine to make it appear as if he had died of natural causes.

Investigation

Cause of deathedit

Initially, Dubai authorities believed al-Mabhouh had died of natural causes.[44] Fawzi Benomran, the Dubai police coroner, said, "It was meant to look like death from natural causes during sleep." It took 10 days for the Dubai police to come to the conclusion that al-Mabhouh was assassinated. Benomran described the determination of the exact cause of death as "one of the most challenging cases" his department faced.[45]

The Khaleej Times quoted an unnamed senior police official as saying that four masked assailants had shocked al-Mabhouh's legs before using a pillow to suffocate him.[46] Another story reported by Uzi Mahnaimi stated that a hit team murdered al-Mabhouh with a heart-attack inducing drug, then proceeded to take photographs of his documents before leaving.[30]

Al-Mabhouh's family said that medical teams who examined his body determined that he died in his hotel room after being strangled and receiving a massive electric shock to the head, and that blood samples examined by a French laboratory confirms that electrocution was the cause of death.[43] According to Reuters news agency, traces of poison were found in al Mabhouh's autopsy.[47] Dubai authorities stated they were ruling the death a homicide and were working with the International Criminal Police Organization to investigate the incident.[48]

Other news reports gave varying causes of death, including suffocation with a pillow and poisoning.[49][50][51] In an international press conference General Tamim, the head of the investigation, said that the exact cause of death is yet to be concluded.[52]

Moreover, on 1 March 2010, the Dubai Police stated that he was first drugged.[53]

Major General Khamis Mattar al-Mazeina as the deputy commander of Dubai's police gave details of the death of al-Mabhouh after forensic tests. Al-Mabhouh was injected in his leg with succinylcholine, a quick-acting, depolarizing paralytic muscle relaxant.[54] It causes almost-instant loss of motor skills, but does not induce loss of consciousness or anaesthesia.[9][54] Then al-Mabhouh was suffocated. Al-Mazeina said, "The assassins used this method so that it would seem that his death was natural."[55]

Suspects

Dubai's police chief, Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, announced his preliminary conclusions on 18 February that, "Our investigations reveal that Mossad is involved in the murder of al-Mabhouh ... It is 99% if not 100% that Mossad is standing behind the murder."[45][56] After identifying the assumed names and photographs of 11 suspects, on 20 February 2010, he said his force had evidence directly incriminating the Mossad in the murder, adding that among the new evidence available were telephone communications between the suspected killers.[57] On 24 February 2010, Dubai police identified 15 additional persons suspected of being involved in al-Mabhouh's assassination.[58][59] According to journalist Uzi Mahnaimi, the decision to kill al-Mabhouh was authorized by Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, after being suggested by Meir Dagan, the head of the Mossad, at a meeting in early January 2010.[60] Later in March, Dubai police chief said "I am now completely sure that it was Mossad," and furthermore went on to say "I have presented the (Dubai) prosecutor with a request for the arrest of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and the head of Mossad," for the murder of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.[19]

Dubai police said the assassins spent little time in the emirate, arriving less than a day before the assassination, killing al-Mabhouh between his arrival at 3:15 p.m. and 9 p.m. that night, and subsequently leaving the country before his discovery.[34] The identities used by 11 of the suspects have been made public.[61] The total number of suspects stands at 18, all of whom entered the country using fake or fraudulently obtained passports.[5][62] Dubai police, who stated that their airport personnel were trained by Europeans to identify faked documents, said that the European passports used were not forgeries.[63] British, Canadian, and Irish governments said the passports bearing their countries' names were, "either fraudulently obtained or [are] outright fakes."[64] All the stolen passports are from countries that do not need visas for the UAE.[65]

  • United Kingdom: Six passports with the names Paul John Keely, Stephan Daniel Hodes, Melvyn Adam Mildiner, Jonathan Louis Graham, James Leonard Clarke, and Michael Lawrence Barney,[66] and another six passports with the names Daniel Marc Schnur, Gabriella Barney, Roy Allan Cannon, Stephen Keith Drake, Mark Sklur, and Philip Carr.[67] On 24 May 2010, another British suspect was publicized - Briton Christopher Lockwood.[68] It was later discovered that this suspect had stolen the identity of an Israeli soldier who was killed in the Yom Kippur War.[69]
  • Republic of Ireland : Three passports with the names Gail Folliard, Kevin Daveron, and Evan Dennings and another three with the names Ivy Brinton, Anna Shauna Clasby, and Chester Halvey.[67] Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs declared that the passports used by the suspects were counterfeit[70] and stated that it was "unable to identify any of those three individuals as being genuine Irish". According to the department, Ireland has never issued passports in those names.[71] While the names and signatures were fake, the numbers on the passports were genuine, and belong to Irish citizens.[5] Four of the five citizens have been contacted by the Department of Foreign Affairs, all of whom live in Ireland; none of them have travelled to the Middle East, lost their passports or had them stolen.[5]
  • France: One passport with the name Peter Elvinger (suspected of being used by the hit squad leader,[72] and logistical coordinator), plus another three passports with the names David Bernard LaPierre, Mélanie Heard, and Eric Rassineux.[67][73] According to a spokesman of the French Foreign Affairs ministry, the passport in the name of Elvinger was counterfeit.[74] The French government summoned the Israeli chargé d'affaires in Paris on 18 February and the French Foreign Ministry issued a statement expressing, "deep concern about the malicious and fraudulent use of these French administrative documents."[75]
  • Germany: One passport with the name Michael Bodenheimer.[73] German officials initially said that the passport number which they received from the authorities in Dubai is either incomplete or does not exist.[76] Later, it was revealed that the passport was genuine. According to German federal investigators, an Israeli man named Michael Bodenheimer acquired German citizenship in June 2008 after providing immigration officials in Cologne with the pre-World War II address of his grandparents and his parents' marriage certificate.[77][78] He stated that he was an Israeli citizen and gave his address as a temporary "virtual office" that he had bought in Herzliya (as of 22 February the office does not exist anymore).[78] A Michael Bodenheimer who lives in Israel and holds dual American and Israeli citizenships said he does not know how his identity was stolen.[77] One person who has the passport name Uri Brodsky was arrested in Poland in early June 2010. He was in Cologne with Michael Bodenheimer and Germany is seeking his extradition.[79] See sub-heading "Alexander Verin/Uri Brodsky" below for more information.
  • Australia: Three passports with the names Nicole Sandra Mccabe (who at the time was heavily pregnant according to her mother[80]), Adam Korman and Joshua Aaron Krycer.[81][82][83] Adam Marcus Korman, an Israeli-Australian citizen living in Israel, said that he was shocked and angry that his identity was stolen.[84] In addition, the other three names are names of residents of Israel.[85] A man named Joshua Krycer works in a hospital located in Jerusalem.[86][87][88]

The names used on the British passports belong to suspects who live in Israel and hold dual citizenships.[89] An analysis of the assassination in The Jewish Chronicle noted that this, "is the first real piece of information that could link Israel to the operation."[90] According to Palestine Chronicle Post, Mossad is known to use the identities of Israelis with dual citizenship. In 1997, two Mossad agents traveled with Canadian passports of dual citizenship Israelis to Amman in a botched attempt on the life of Hamas leader Khaled Mashal.[91] According to former katsa Victor Ostrovsky, a Canadian citizen, the Mossad formerly asked permission to use the passports of Israelis with dual nationality, but "I believe at some point, they stopped asking."[92]

A Jerusalem-based British citizen whose name was used on one of the passports told Reuters news agency that he has never been to Dubai and had no connection with the Mossad or the killing. He said that he did not "know how this happened or who chose my name or why".[93] In addition, three other Israelis whose names appeared on the passports reported to the Israeli Channel 2 news that they did not understand the coincidence, and were not related at all to the suspects.[76][94] In the wake of the revelation that passports of British citizens had figured prominently in the operation, the United Kingdom's Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) launched its own investigation into the matter,[95] and plans to interview the first round of British passport holders that had their identities stolen.[96] The British Foreign Office also summoned the Israeli ambassador on 18 February to share information on the matter.[97][98] The British government denied claims that Mossad had tipped off the UK that their passports would be used for an operation.[99]

The photographs of 11 of the suspected killers were added to Interpol's most wanted list on 18 February, with a note specifying that they had been published since the identities adopted by the suspects were faked. Dubai airport officials carried out routine retinal scans on 11 of the suspects sought in the assassination when they entered the country and Dubai police said they would publish the scans through Interpol.[100]

YNetNews said some hit squad members fled to Iran after the assassination.[101]

Seventeen of the suspects used MasterCards branded by MetaBank of Storm Lake, Iowa but issued by Payoneer Inc which were used to buy their plane tickets in other countries before their arrival in Dubai.[102][103][104][105][106] Other credit cards show ties to Britain's Nationwide Building Society, IDT Finance of Gilbraltar, and Germany's DZ Bank AG.[107] Payoneer is an Israeli start-up now based in New York with R&D offices and a majority of its employees in Tel Aviv. CEO Yuval Tal, is a former member of the IDF Special Forces. Payoneer is held by three venture capital firms: Greylock PartnersCarmel Ventures, and Crossbar Capital. Greylock, which has offices in the U.S. and Herzliya, Israel, was established by Moshe Mor, a former military intelligence captain in the Israeli army. Carmel Ventures is an Israeli venture capital fund based in Herzliya. Crossbar Partners is run by Charlie Federman, who is also managing director of the BRM Group, a venture capital fund also in Herzliya that was co-founded by Nir Barkat, the former mayor of Jerusalem. Mossad HQ are located in Herzliya.[108]

The New York Post originally reported that Tal has disappeared since his company was identified as the issuer of some of the killers' credit cards, with his Brooklyn neighbors telling the NYPD that he left the country.[109] He reappeared a day later, however.[110]

The Dubai Police has found the DNA of one person and some fingerprints of other persons which are suspected.[111] The chief of Dubai Police Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim said that there are 648 hours of video films in which the 27 suspected persons are appearing[112] and announced that the police has found the DNA of four suspected agents.[113]

Arrests

Two Palestinians, Ahmad Hasnin, an intelligence operative of the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority (PA), and Anwar Shekhaiber, an employee of the PA in Ramallah, were arrested in Jordan and handed over to Dubai as suspected accomplices to the assassination, suspected of giving logistical assistance such as providing car rentals and hotel bookings.[9][114] Hamas claimed that their arrest was evidence linking the Palestinian Authority to the killing, while the Palestinian Authority retorted by accusing the arrested Palestinians of being members of Hamas.[115]

The two men are reported to be related to one another and to have lived in Gaza until Hamas took over full control of the Strip in 2006. One went straight to Dubai, while the other joined him after first going to Ramallah, where he was sentenced to death by a Palestinian Authority court, a punishment generally handed down to Israeli collaborators.[116] The recruitment of Ahmad Hasnin by the Mossad could have been done when he was imprisoned by Israel for a month in June 2007 for his involvement with Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the military wing for Fatah. He came to the UAE in 2008, according to a family source.[117]

Dubai authorities said that one of the two Palestinians held in custody met a suspect in a suspicious place, time and manner, while the second is closely related to him and was found to have already been sentenced to death by one of the Palestinian parties. The second suspect is wanted by Hamas. They are both being held to ensure that no one comes to execute them.[118]

Haaretz report based on information from an unnamed Arab diplomatic source said that Dubai police had asked Syria to detain Mohammed Nasser and other Hamas men for questioning. According to media reports, Nasser was in Dubai in the days before al-Mabhouh's killing and was intimately familiar with his schedule and whereabouts.[119]

Dubai Police chief Dahi Khalfan said on 3 March 2010 he requested for the Dubai prosecutor to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the head of Mossad, Meir Dagan for the murder.[120]

He also announced Canada had arrested a suspect who "was among the preparatory group which arrived in the country and left it before the crime was committed." The suspect was reported to be one amongst a number of suspects for whom Interpol has issued red corner notices on behalf of the UAE.[121] The following day, however, the Canadian embassy in the UAE denied this but said they were liaising with authorities back in Canada to verify the status of the arrest.[122]

Alexander Verin/Uri Brodsky

On 4 June 2010, Polish police arrested a man at Warsaw airport carrying a false passport with the name Uri Brodsky, who was wanted by German authorities.[123] A European Arrest Warrant from Germany specified that Brodsky, also known as Alexander Verin (or Varin), was "suspected of being involved in illegally obtaining a [German] passport" for another man known as Michael Bodenheimer, who is alleged to have taken part in Mahmoud al-Mabhouh's murder.[124] A Polish court approved Brodsky's extradition to Germany on 7 July, pending appeal.[125][126] However, the extradition was approved on the basis that Brodsky would not face German charges of espionage – instead he would only face the lesser charge of falsely-obtaining documents.[127] Brodsky was transferred to German custody on 12 August, released on €100,000 bail on 13 August, and flown back to Israel on 14 August.[128][129] The German prosecutor indicated that Brodsky would not have to face trial after all, but instead that "the matter can now be dealt with by written proceedings," most likely resulting in a fine.[130] At the end of 2010, Germany suspended the case of falsifying documents in lieu of a €60,000 fine; however, a German arrest warrant on the espionage charges remains in effect.[131]

Arrest of a top suspectedit

On 11 October 2010, The National of Abu Dhabi published an interview with Dubai's police chief Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, in which he claims that a western country had arrested a top suspect of killing al-Mabhouh about two months earlier. The ambassador of the western country does not want to name the country and the name of the arrested suspect. Tamim expressed frustration at the lack of detail: "Why is it that every time an Israeli is involved in a crime, everyone goes mute? We want anyone who is dealing with this case to deal with it as a security case, and not to pay attention to any other consideration."[132][133][134]

Reactions

Countries

  • United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates – Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said, "The abuse of passports poses a global threat, affecting both countries' national security as well as the personal security of travelers."[135] He also said that those responsible would be brought to account, noting that, "The UAE firmly believes that relations among nations should be conducted on the basis of respect for sovereignty, mutual trust and within the framework of international norms. Like all civilised nations, we abide by these principles and we will deal with this criminal act within the international framework expected of civilised nations."[136] Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, expressed the country's deep concern that expertly doctored passports from nations that do not require advance visas were used by the suspected killers. UAE officials said they remained in "close contact with the concerned European governments," listing the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany and Austria.[135] Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim said on 1 March 2010, during the International Security National Resilience Exhibition & Conference at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, that the police of the UAE will develop the skills to identify persons who are Israelis. So the police will deny the entry of any person as a suspected Israeli.[137]
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom – Britain's Foreign Office believes that the passports used were fraudulent;[76] one report indicated that they had issued the passports in January 2010, the only difference between the actual identities being the photographs.[138] The Telegraph reported on 20 February that diplomatic sources say that the passport fraud was carried out by Israeli immigration officials. It is claimed that the dual Israeli-British citizens had their passports taken from them as they passed through the airport in Tel Aviv – the details on the documents were recorded (and they were most likely photocopied), and then used to create new documents. These new documents sported the pictures of the suspects, but used the names and numbers of those whose identities were stolen.[139] As a result of an investigation by the British Serious Organised Crime Agency, the government concluded that there were "compelling evidence to believe that Israel was responsible for the misuse of the British passports."[140] The British Foreign Secretary David Miliband expelled a senior Israeli diplomat, who was thought to be the Mossad's station commander in the country.[141][142][143][144] Britain also issued a warning to British passport holders traveling to Israel to "only hand your passport over to third parties including Israeli officials when absolutely necessary".[145] Israel had already used fake British passports to conduct an operation in 1987.
  • France France – François Fillon, the French Prime Minister, said that though it remained unclear as to who was responsible, "France condemns assassination. Assassination is not a means of action in international relations."[146] The Israeli chargé d'affaires in Paris was summoned on 18 February and the French Foreign Ministry issued a statement expressing, "deep concern about the malicious and fraudulent use of these French administrative documents."[75] The French counterintelligence agency DCRI is believed to have protested to Mossad after finding it had used a Paris hotel as a base to stage the assassination.[147] According to a Le Monde report, France was concerned that Hamas would suspect French involvement in the assassination due to the operation having been run out of Paris and the use of forged French passports, and suspended intelligence sharing with Israel.[36]
  • Austria Austria – The spokesman for the Austrian Interior Ministry confirmed that Austria is investigating the use of Austrian mobile phones by the suspected killers.
  • Canada Canada – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police denied an accusation from the Police Chief of the Emirate of Dubai that made an arrest in the case. A spokeswoman for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service said that because the probe was a foreign investigation it would be "inappropriate" to comment.[148]
  • Germany Germany – Germany confirmed that it is actively pursuing information on the identity of the killers of al-Mabhouh.[149] The German federal prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe began investigations about foreign spy activities in connection with the German passport used by one suspect in Dubai.[150] The German Federal Intelligence Service told members of the German parliament that apparently the Mossad executed the operation in Dubai. According to Der Spiegel, the Mossad operation could be considered as an affront to the Germans since the current head of German intelligence, Ernst Uhrlau has been acting at the behest of the Israeli government as a liaison between Jerusalem and Hamas. He sought the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was abducted by Palestinian militants in 2006 in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by the Israelis. Urhrlau was in Israel just a few days before 19 January. By then the Dubai operation was certainly under way.[151]
  • Republic of Ireland Ireland – Investigations by Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs Passport Service and by the Garda Síochána concluded that eight Irish passports were used in the assassination, and all were forgeries (but based on information from valid passports). Irish citizens whose information had been used were issued with new passports. Dubai Police had Interpol issue red notices (arrest warrants) for Jael Foliard, Kevien Daverone, Ivy Broton, Evan Denengz and Anna Shauna Clasby, all of whom entered Dubai on forged Irish passports. Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin in a statement issued on 15 June 2010 said the Irish government had come to the "inescapable conclusion" that Israel was responsible for the forged passports used in the al-Mabhouh assassination, noting Israel did not assist in his country's investigations and did not deny involvement.[citation needed]
  • Iran Iran – On 2 February, the Iranian foreign ministry blamed Israel for the incident, stating, "This is another indication of the existence of state terrorism by the Zionist regime".[152]
  • Australia Australia – On 25 February, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, said that any country that so abused Australian passports held Australia in contempt, stating, "we will not let the matter lie."[65] In a meeting with Israeli Ambassador Yuval Rotem, Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith, made it "crystal clear" that if it was concluded that Israeli officials had condoned or sponsored the abuse of the Australian passports, "Australia would not regard that as the act of a friend".[153] Soon after this occurred, Australia abstained on a UN motion to investigate alleged Israeli war crimes committed during the Gaza War, a motion that Australia had previously opposed. In the Australian press there was widespread speculation that the move was retaliation for the passport affair, although this was denied by the Australian government.[154] In response to the incident, Australia expelled a Mossad agent who had been working in the Israeli embassy in Canberra on 24 May 2010.[155] Foreign Minister Stephen Smith was quoted as saying that Australian passports had been misused by Israel on previous occasions, and the decision to expel the Mossad agent "was made much more in sorrow than in anger".[155][156]
  • Lebanon Lebanon – Key Hezbollah members became nervous after the killing in Dubai. Since foreign passports were seemingly used for the attack, Hezbollah asked the Lebanese government for additional screening of foreigners entering Lebanon.[157]
  • Sweden Sweden – Foreign Minister Carl Bildt stated that "misuse of European passports is not to be tolerated".[158]
  • Luxembourg Luxembourg – Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn stated that "political assassinations have no place in the 21st century".[158]
  • Spain Spain – Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos stated that his country was "extremely concerned".[158]
  • Israel Israel – The Israeli government initially did not comment on claims that it was involved in al-Mabhouh's death.[152] On 17 February, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman refused to confirm or deny any Israeli involvement, and noted a lack of solid evidence for Israeli involvement.[159] On 24 February, The Jerusalem Post quoted the Israeli Opposition leader Tzipi Livni as saying, "Every terrorist must know that no one will support him when a soldier, and it doesn't matter what soldier, tries to kill him."[160] Israeli media and public opinion has generally accepted Mossad's responsibility for the operation.[161] Due to Israel's military censorship laws the Israeli media at first were careful to use the phrase "according to foreign media reports" to avoid directly accusing Mossad, however the phrase was abandoned and Mossad's culpability was openly assumed after the first week of the scandal.[162] Opinions of the Israeli media were divided between approving of the success of al-Mabhouh's killing and disapproving the sloppiness of the operation and the resultant exposure and media scandal. Haaretz's Amir Oren called Dagan to be fired due to what he considered a sloppy job,[163] while the newspaper's Yossi Melman predicted Israel would emerge from the incident "unblemished".[164] After the United Kingdom expelled an Israeli diplomat over the use of British passports, Israeli right wing politicians commented against Britain's "disloyal" action. Knesset member Michael Ben-Ari stated that "This is anti-Semitism disguised as anti-Zionism". Israeli politician Aryeh Eldad stated that "Britain's behavior is hypocritical. Who are they to judge us in the war on terror?" Other than non-official comments made by right wing politicians, Israel has not officially responded.[165]
  • United States United States – On 28 December 2010, leaked diplomatic cables showed that Dubai considered keeping the assassination secret, and asked the United States to help track down information on credit card numbers suspected of having been used by the assassins.[166] The United States did not cooperate with the investigation.[167]

Palestinian

The day following al-Mabhouh's death, Hamas' armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, announced that he died of terminal cancer in a hospital in the United Arab Emirates.[168]

On 29 January, Hamas' deputy politburo chief Moussa Abu Marzouk said, "Mossad agents are those who assassinated al-Mabhouh".[169] Top Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar speculated that same day that it was possible that members of the entourage of Israeli infrastructure minister Uzi Landau, who were in the United Arab Emirates at the time for a renewable energy conference, were involved in his killing.[170][171] Landau dismissed the claim, stating that his delegation was in Abu Dhabi, some 120 km from Dubai, and was escorted by an eight-man UAE security team at all times.[172][173]

On 2 February, Hamas' representative in Lebanon Osama Hamdan said that Palestinian Authority security forces might have been involved in the death, stating that, "The Palestinian Authority security forces are pursuing [our] fighters and they have killed dozens of them since 1994."[174] Haaretz reported that details from a preliminary Hamas investigation procured by the newspaper suggested that al-Mabhouh was assassinated by agents of an Arab government, and that al-Mabhouh was wanted by Egypt and Jordan.[175] On 12 February, senior Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal rejected reports that Hamas blamed Arab states for al-Mabhouh's death, and said the Israeli Mossad was solely responsible.[176]

On 19 February, Hamas representatives said that the two Palestinians arrested in Dubai, Ahmad Hassanain and Anwar Shheibar, are former members of Fatah's security forces and work at a construction company in Dubai owned by Mohammed Dahlan, a senior Fatah security official. A senior Hamas official told Al-Hayat newspaper that the two provided logistical aid to the Mossad hit team alleged to have carried out the murder, renting them cars and hotel rooms. The two were linked to a Gaza death cell under Dahlan's command, which worked to suppress dissidence among Palestinians.[177] Dahlan and Fatah denied the charges.[178]

European Union

EU foreign ministers "strongly condemned" the use of forged European passports in the killing.[179][180]

United Nations

Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings was quoted by the Los Angeles Times as stating, "If a foreign intelligence agency was responsible for the killing of al-Mabhouh, the matter should clearly be classified as an extrajudicial execution. There is no legal justification for the cold-blooded murder of a man who, if alleged to have committed crimes, could have been arrested and charged."[181

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Mahmoud_Al-Mabhouh#:~:text=The%20day%20following%20al%2DMabhouh%27s,who%20assassinated%20al%2DMabhouh%22
 

Mossad

The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (Hebrewהמוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים ha-Mosád le-Modiʿín u-le-Tafkidím Meyuḥadím), popularly known as Mossad[a] (UK/ˈmɒsæd/ MOSS-adUS/mˈsɑːd/ moh-SAHD), is the national intelligence agency of the State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with Aman (military intelligence) and Shin Bet (internal security).

Mossad is responsible for intelligence collectioncovert operations, and counter-terrorism. Its director answers directly and only to the Prime Minister. Its annual budget is estimated to be around ₪10 billion (US$2.73 billion), and it is estimated that it employs around 7,000 people, making it one of the world's largest espionage agencies.[1] 

History of Mossad

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mossad

Mossad was formed on December 13, 1949, as the Central Institute for Coordination at the recommendation of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to Reuven Shiloah. Ben Gurion wanted a central body to coordinate and improve cooperation between the existing security services—the army's intelligence department (AMAN), the Internal Security Service (Shin Bet), and the Political Intelligence Service (Mossad).[2][3][4] The central body governing the three security services was Va'adat;[4] today it is the Ministry of Intelligence.[5]

In March 1951, it was reorganized and incorporated into the prime minister's office, reporting directly to the Prime Minister of Israel.[3] Due to Mossad's accountability directly to the prime minister and not to the Knesset, journalist Ronen Bergman has described Mossad as a "deep state".[6]

In the 1990s, Aliza Magen-Halevi became the highest-ranking woman in Mossad's history when she served as the agency's deputy director under Shabtai Shavit and Danny Yatom.[7]

Heads of Mossad

Organisation of Mossad

Divisions

The organizational structure of the Mossad is officially classified. Mossad is organized into divisions, led by a director who is equivalent to a major general in the Israel Defense Forces.[8]

  • Tzomet: Mossad's largest division, staffed with case officers called katsas tasked with conducting espionage overseas and running agents.[9] Employees in Tzomet operate under a variety of covers, including diplomatic and unofficial. The division was led from 2006 to 2011 by Yossi Cohen[10] and from 2013 to 2019 by David Barnea, both of whom later served as Mossad directors.[11]
  • Caesarea: conducts special operations and houses the Kidon (Hebrew: כידון, "bayonet", "javelin" or a "spear") unit, an elite group of assassins.[12]
  • Keshet ("Rainbow"): electronic surveillance, break-ins, and wiretapping[8]
  • Human Resources[8]
  • A special unit called Metsada allegedly runs "small units of combatants" whose missions include "assassinations and sabotage".[13][better source needed]

Venture capital

Mossad opened a venture capital fund in June 2017,[14] to invest in high-tech startups to develop new cyber technologies.[15] The names of technology startups funded by Mossad are not published.[15]

Personnel

Katsa

katsa is a field intelligence officer of the Mossad.[16] The word katsa is a Hebrew acronym for Hebrewקצין איסוףromanizedktsin issuf, "intelligence officer", literally "gathering officer". A katsa is a case officer who runs agents to clandestinely collect intelligence.

Kidon

The kidon are Mossad's elite assassins. Recruits receive two years of training at Mossad's training facility near Herzliya.[9]

Sayanim

Sayanim (Hebrewסייענים, lit. helpers, assistants)[17] are unpaid Jewish civilians who help Mossad out of a sense of devotion to Israel.[18] They are recruited by Mossad's field agents, katsas, to provide logistical support for Mossad operations.[9] A sayan running a rental agency, for instance, could help Mossad agents rent a car without the usual documentation.[19][20] The usage of sayanim allows the Mossad to operate with a slim budget yet conduct vast operations worldwide.[21] Sayanim can have dual citizenships but are often not Israeli citizens.[22][23]

According to Gordon Thomas, there were 4,000 sayanim in Britain and some 16,000 in the United States in 1998.[19]

Israeli students called bodlim are often used as gofers for Mossad.[24]

Mossad's Motto

Mossad's former motto, be-tachbūlōt ta`aseh lekhā milchāmāh (Hebrewבתחבולות תעשה לך מלחמה) is a quote from the Bible (Proverbs 24:6): "For by wise guidance you can wage your war" (NRSV). The motto was later[when?] changed to another Proverbs passage: be-'éyn tachbūlōt yippol `ām; ū-teshū`āh be-rov yō'éts (Hebrewבאין 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."[25]

Alleged operations

Operation Harpoon

Together with Shurat HaDin, Mossad[when?] started Operation Harpoon, for "destroying terrorists' money networks".[26][27]

Africa

Egypt

  • Provision of intelligence for the cutting of communications between Port Said and Cairo in 1956.[citation needed]
  • Mossad spy Wolfgang Lotz, holding West German citizenship, infiltrated Egypt in 1957, and gathered intelligence on Egyptian missile sites, military installations, and industries. He also composed a list of German rocket scientists working for the Egyptian government, and sent some of them letter bombs. After the East German head of state made a state visit to Egypt, the Egyptian government detained thirty West German citizens as a goodwill gesture. Lotz, assuming that he had been discovered, confessed to his cold war espionage activities.[28]
  • After a tense May 25, 1967, confrontation with CIA Tel Aviv station chief John Hadden, who warned that the United States would help defend Egypt if Israel launched a surprise attack, Mossad director Meir Amit flew to Washington, D.C. to meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and reported back to the Israeli cabinet that the United States had given Israel "a flickering green light" to attack.[29]
  • Provision of intelligence on the Egyptian Air Force for Operation Focus, the opening air strike of the Six-Day War.
  • Operation Bulmus 6 – Intelligence assistance in the Commando Assault on Green Island, Egypt during the War of Attrition.[citation needed]
  • Operation Damocles – A campaign of assassination and intimidation against German rocket scientists employed by Egypt in building missiles.[citation needed]
    • A bomb sent to the Heliopolis rocket factory killed five Egyptian workers, allegedly sent by Otto Skorzeny on behalf of the Mossad.[30]
    • Heinz Krug, 49, the chief of a Munich company supplying military hardware to Egypt disappeared in September 1962 and is believed to have been assassinated by Otto Skorzeny on behalf of the Mossad.[30]

Morocco

In September 1956, Mossad established a secretive network in Morocco to smuggle Moroccan Jews to Israel after a ban on immigration to Israel was imposed.[31]

In early 1991, two Mossad operatives infiltrated the Moroccan port of Casablanca and planted a tracking device on the freighter Al-Yarmouk, which was carrying a cargo of North Korean missiles bound for Syria. The ship was to be sunk by the Israeli Air Force, but the mission was later called off by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.[32]

Tunisia

The 1988 killing of Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad), a founder of Fatah.[33]

The alleged killing of Salah Khalaf, head of intelligence of the PLO and second in command of Fatah behind Yasser Arafat, in 1991.[34]

The 2016 alleged killing of Hamas operative Mohamed Zouari in Tunisia. Known to Israel's security echelon as "The Engineer", he was a Hamas-affiliated engineer who was believed to be constructing drones for the group. He was shot at close range.[35][36]

Uganda

For Operation Entebbe in 1976, Mossad provided intelligence regarding Entebbe International Airport[37] and extensively interviewed hostages who had been released.[38]

South Africa

In the late 1990s, after Mossad was tipped off to the presence of two Iranian agents in Johannesburg on a mission to procure advanced weapons systems from Denel, a Mossad agent was deployed, and met up with a local Jewish contact. Posing as South African intelligence, they abducted the Iranians, drove them to a warehouse, and beat and intimidated them before forcing them to leave the country.[32]

Sudan

After the 1994 AMIA bombing, the largest bombing in Argentine history, Mossad began gathering intelligence for a raid by Israeli Special Forces on the Iranian embassy in Khartoum as retaliation. The operation was called off due to fears that another attack against worldwide Jewish communities might take place as revenge. Mossad also assisted in Operation Moses, the evacuation of Ethiopian Jews to Israel from a famine-ridden region of Sudan in 1984, also maintaining a relationship with the Ethiopian government.[citation needed]

Americas

Argentina

In 1960, Mossad discovered that the Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann was in Argentina. A team of five Mossad agents led by Shimon Ben Aharon slipped into Argentina and, through surveillance, confirmed that he had been living there under the name of Ricardo Klement. He was abducted on May 11, 1960 and taken to a hideout. He was subsequently smuggled to Israel, where he was tried and executed. Argentina protested what it considered as a 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."[b][42] Mossad abandoned a second operation, intended to capture Josef Mengele.[43]

United States

During the 1990s, Mossad discovered that a Hezbollah agent was operating inside the United States to procure materials needed to manufacture IEDs and other weapons. In a joint operation with U.S. intelligence, the Hezbollah agent was kept under surveillance in hopes that his communications would expose additional Hezbollah operatives. The agent was eventually arrested.[32]

Mossad informed the FBI and CIA in August 2001 that, based on its intelligence, 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 the FBI that it had picked up indications of a "large-scale target" in the United States and that Americans would be "very vulnerable".[44] However, "It is not known whether U.S. authorities thought the warning to be credible, or whether it contained enough details to allow counter-terrorism teams to come up with a response." A month later, terrorists struck at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the largest terrorist attack in history.[44]

The US journalists Dylan Howard, Melissa Cronin and James Robertson linked the Mossad to American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in their book Epstein: Dead Men Tell No Tales. They relied for the most part on the former Israeli intelligence officer Ari Ben-Menashe.[45] According to him, Epstein's activities as a spy served to gather compromising material on powerful people in order to blackmail them.[46] There is also a possible connection to the Mossad via Ghislaine Maxwell, whose father Robert Maxwell is said to have had contacts with the Mossad.[47] Epstein's victim Virginia Giuffre also alleged Epstein to be an intelligence asset, linking on Twitter to a Reddit page, that alleged Epstein being a spy, running a blackmail operation.[48]

Uruguay

In 1965, the Mossad assassinated Latvian Nazi collaborator Herberts Cukurs.[49]

Asia

Central Asia and the Middle East

A report published on the Israeli military's official website in February 2014 said that Middle Eastern countries that cooperate with Israel (Mossad) are the United Arab EmiratesAfghanistan, the Republic of AzerbaijanBahrain and Saudi Arabia. The report claimed that Bahrain has been providing Israel with intelligence on Iranian and Palestinian organizations. The report also highlights the growing secret cooperation with Saudi Arabia, claiming that Mossad has been in direct contact with Saudi intelligence about Iran’s nuclear energy program.[50][51]

Iran

Prior to the Iranian Revolution of 1978–79, 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.[52][53] After security relations between the United States and Iran grew more distant in the early 1960s which led the CIA training team to leave Iran, Mossad became increasingly active in Iran, "training SAVAK personnel and carrying out a broad variety of joint operations with SAVAK."[54]

A US intelligence official told The Washington Post that Israel orchestrated the defection of Iranian general Ali Reza Askari on February 7, 2007.[55] This has been denied by Israeli spokesman Mark RegevThe Sunday Times reported that Askari had been a Mossad asset since 2003, and left only when his cover was about to be blown.[56]

Le Figaro claimed that Mossad was possibly behind a blast at the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Imam Ali military base, on October 12, 2011. The explosion at the base killed 18 and injured 10 others. Among the dead was also general Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, who served as the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ missile program and was a crucial figure in building Iran's long-range missile program.[57] The base is believed to store long-range missiles, including the Shahab-3, and also has hangars. It is one of Iran's most secure military bases.[58]

Mossad has been accused of assassinating Masoud AlimohammadiArdeshir HosseinpourMajid ShahriariDarioush Rezaeinejad and Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan; scientists involved in the Iranian nuclear program. It is also suspected of being behind the attempted assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Fereydoon Abbasi.[59] Meir Dagan, who served as Director of Mossad from 2002 until 2009, while not taking credit for the assassinations, praised them in an interview with a journalist, saying "the removal of important brains" from the Iranian nuclear project had achieved so-called "white defections", frightening other Iranian nuclear scientists into requesting that they be transferred to civilian projects.[29]

In 2018 the Mossad infiltrated into Iran's secret nuclear archive in Tehran and smuggled over 100,000 documents and computer files to Israel. The documents and files showed that the Iranian AMAD Project aimed to develop nuclear weapons.[60] Israel shared the information with its allies, including European countries and the United States.[61]

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 Diamond". Redfa's entire family was also successfully smuggled from Iraq to Israel. Previously unknown information about the MiG-21 was subsequently shared with the United States.

Operation Sphinx[62] – Between 1978 and 1981, obtained highly sensitive information about Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor by recruiting an Iraqi nuclear scientist in France.

Operation Bramble Bush II – In the 1990s, Mossad began scouting locations in Iraq where Saddam Hussein could be ambushed by Sayeret Matkal commandos inserted into Iraq from Jordan. The mission was called off due to Operation Desert Fox and the ongoing Israeli-Arab peace process.

Jordan

In what is thought to have been a reprisal action for a Hamas suicide-bombing in Jerusalem on July 30, 1997 that killed 16 Israelis, Benjamin Netanyahu authorised an operation against Khaled Mashal, the Hamas representative in Jordan.[63] On September 25, 1997, Mashal was injected in the ear with a toxin (thought to have been a derivative of the synthetic opiate Fentanyl called Levofentanyl).[64][65] Jordanian authorities apprehended two Mossad agents posing as Canadian tourists and trapped a further six in the Israeli embassy. In exchange for their release, an Israeli physician had to fly to Amman and deliver an antidote for Mashal. The fallout from the failed killing eventually led to the release of Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual leader of the Hamas movement, and scores of Hamas prisoners. Netanyahu flew into Amman on September 29 to apologize personally to King Hussein, but he was instead met by the King's brother, Crown Prince Hassan.[64]

Lebanon

The sending of letter bombs to PFLP member Bassam Abu Sharif in 1972. Sharif was severely wounded, but survived.[66]

The killing of the Palestinian writer and leading PFLP member Ghassan Kanafani by a car bomb in 1972.[67]

The provision of intelligence and operational assistance in the 1973 Operation Spring of Youth special forces raid on Beirut.

The targeted killing of Ali Hassan Salameh, the leader of Black September, on January 22, 1979 in Beirut by a car bomb.[68][69]

Providing intelligence for the killing of Abbas al-Musawi, secretary general of Hezbollah, in southern Lebanon in 1992.[70]

Allegedly killed Jihad Ahmed Jibril, the leader of the military wing of the PFLP-GC, in Beirut in 2002.[71]

Allegedly killed Ali Hussein Saleh, member of Hezbollah, in Beirut in 2003.[72]

Allegedly killed Ghaleb Awwali, a senior Hezbollah official, in Beirut in 2004.[73]

Allegedly killed Mahmoud al-Majzoub, a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in Sidon in 2006.[74]

Mossad was suspected of establishing a large spy network in Lebanon, recruited from DruzeChristian, and Sunni Muslim communities, and officials in the Lebanese government, to spy on Hezbollah and its Iranian Revolutionary Guard advisors. Some have allegedly been active since the 1982 Lebanon War. In 2009, Lebanese Security Services supported by Hezbollah's intelligence unit, and working in collaboration with SyriaIran, and possibly Russia, launched a major crackdown which resulted in the arrests of around 100 alleged spies "working for Israel".[75] Previously, in 2006, the Lebanese army uncovered a network that allegedly assassinated several Lebanese and Palestinian leaders on behalf of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.[76]

Palestine

Caesarea tried for many years to assassinate Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat, a job later tasked by Israel's Minister of Defense Ariel Sharon to a military special ops task force code named "Salt Fish", later renamed "Operation Goldfish", specially created for the job of assassinating Arafat,[77] with Ronan Bergman suggesting that Israel used radiation poisoning to kill Yasser Arafat.[78]

Syria

Eli Cohen infiltrated the highest echelons of the Syrian government, was a close friend of the Syrian President, and was considered for the post of Minister of Defense. He gave his handlers a complete plan of the Syrian defenses on the Golan Heights, the Syrian Armed Forces order of battle, and a complete list of the Syrian military's weapons inventory. He also ordered the planting of trees by every Syrian fortified position under the pretext of shading soldiers, but the trees actually served as targeting markers for the Israel Defense Forces. He was discovered by Syrian and Soviet intelligence, tried in secret, and executed publicly in 1965.[79] His information played a crucial role during the Six-Day War.

On April 1, 1978, 12 Syrian military and secret service personnel were killed by a booby trapped sophisticated Israeli listening device planted on the main telephone cable between Damascus and Jordan.[80]

The alleged death of General Anatoly Kuntsevich, who from the late 1990s was suspected of aiding the Syrians in the manufacture of VX nerve-gas, in exchange for which he was paid huge amounts of money by the Syrian government. On April 3, 2002, Kuntsevich died mysteriously during a plane journey, amid allegations that Mossad was responsible.[80]

The alleged killing of Izz El-Deen Sheikh Khalil, a senior member of the military wing of Hamas, in an automobile booby trap in September 2004 in Damascus.[81]

The uncovering of a nuclear reactor being built in Syria as a result of surveillance by Mossad of Syrian officials working under the command of Muhammad Suleiman. As a result, the Syrian nuclear reactor was destroyed by Israeli Air Forces in September 2007 (see Operation Orchard).[80]

The alleged killing of Muhammad Suleiman, head of Syria's nuclear program, in 2008. Suleiman was on a beach in Tartus and was killed by a sniper firing from a boat.[82]

On July 25, 2007, the al-Safir chemical weapons depot exploded, killing 15 Syrian personnel as well as 10 Iranian engineers. Syrian investigations blamed Israeli sabotage.[80]

The alleged killing of Imad Mughniyah, a senior leader of Hezbollah complicit in the 1983 United States embassy bombing, with an exploding headrest in Damascus in 2008.[83]

The decomposed body of Yuri Ivanov, the deputy head of the GRU, Russia's foreign military intelligence service, was found on a Turkish beach in early August 2010,[84] amid allegations that Mossad may have played a role. He had disappeared while staying near Latakia, Syria.[85]

Mossad was accused of being behind the assassination of Aziz Asbar, a senior Syrian scientist responsible for developing long-range rockets and chemical weapons programs. He was killed in a car bomb in Masyaf on August 5, 2018.[86]

United Arab Emirates

Mossad is suspected of killing Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior Hamas military commander, in January 2010 at DubaiUnited Arab Emirates. The team which carried out the killing is estimated, on the basis of CCTV and other evidence, to have consisted of at least 26 agents traveling on bogus passports. The operatives entered al-Mabhouh's hotel room, where Mabhouh was subjected to electric shocks and interrogated. The door to his room was reported to have been locked from the inside.[87][88][89][90][91] Although the UAE police and Hamas have declared Israel responsible for the killing, no direct evidence linking Mossad to the crime has been found. The agents' bogus passports included six British passports, cloned from those of real British nationals resident in Israel and suspected by Dubai, five Irish passports, apparently forged from those of living individuals,[92] forged Australian passports that raised fears of reprisal against innocent victims of identity theft,[93] a genuine German passport and a false French passport. Emirati police say they have fingerprint and DNA evidence of some of the attackers, as well as retinal scans of 11 suspects recorded at Dubai airport.[94][95] Dubai's police chief has said "I am now completely sure that it was Mossad," adding: "I have presented the (Dubai) prosecutor with a request for the arrest of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and the head of Mossad," for the murder.[96]

South Asia and East/Southeast Asia

India

Rediff story in 2003 revealed that Mossad had clandestine links with the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), India's external intelligence agency. When R&AW was founded in September 1968 by Rameshwar Nath Kao, he was advised by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to cultivate links with Mossad. This was suggested as a countermeasure to military links between that of Pakistan and China, as well as with North Korea. Israel was also concerned that Pakistani army officers were training Libyans and Iranians in handling Chinese and North Korean military equipment.[97]

Pakistan believed intelligence relations between India and Israel threatened Pakistani security. When young Israeli tourists began visiting the Kashmir valley in the early 1990s, Pakistan suspected they were disguised Israeli army officers there to help Indian security forces with anti-terrorism operations. Israeli tourists were attacked, with one slain and another kidnapped. Pressure from the Kashmiri Muslim diaspora in the United States led to his release. Kashmiri Muslims feared that the attacks could isolate the American Jewish community, and result in them lobbying the US government against Kashmiri separatist groups.[97]

India Today reported that the two flats were RAW safe houses used as operational fronts for Mossad agents and housed Mossad's station chief between 1989 and 1992. RAW had reportedly decided to have closer ties to Mossad, and the subsequent secret operation was approved by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. India Today cites "RAW insiders" as saying that RAW agents hid a Mossad agent holding an Argentine passport and exchanged intelligence and expertise in operations, including negotiations for the release of an Israeli tourist by the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front militants in June 1991. When asked about the case Verma refused to speak about the companies, but claimed his relationship with them was purely professional. Raman stated, "Sometimes, spy agencies float companies for operational reasons. All I can say is that everything was done with government approval. Files were cleared by the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and his cabinet secretary. Balachandran stated, "It is true that we did a large number of operations but at every stage, we kept the Cabinet Secretariat and the prime minister in the loop."[98]

In November 2015, The Times of India reported that agents from Mossad and MI5 were protecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Turkey. Modi was on a state visit to the United Kingdom and was scheduled to attend the 2015 G-20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey. The paper reported that the agents had been called in to provide additional cover to Modi's security detail, composed of India's Special Protection Group and secret agents from RAW and IB, in wake of the November 2015 Paris attacks.[99][100]

Malaysia

In 2018, Hamas and the family of Malaysian-based Hamas engineer and university lecturer Fadi Mohammad al-Batsh have accused the Mossad of assassinating him. In April 2018, al-Batsh was shot dead by two men on a motorbike in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi described the suspects as Europeans with links to an unidentified foreign intelligence agency. In response, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman denied that Mossad was involved in al-Batsh's assassination and suggested that his death was the result of an internal Palestinian dispute.[101][102] Hamas also issued a statement describing Batsh as a "martyr" and "distinguished scientist who has widely contributed to the energy sector."[103]

In October 2022, the New Straits Times and Al Jazeera Arabic reported that several Malaysian Mossad operatives had attempted to kidnap two Palestinian computer experts in Kuala Lumpur in late September 2022. Though they managed to kidnap one of the men, the second escaped and alerted Malaysian police. The operatives allegedly assisted Mossad officials via video call in interrogating and beating their captive, who was questioned about the computer programming and software capabilities of Hamas and its Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. With the aid of the second Palestinian man, Malaysian police were able to track down the car registration plates to a house where the alleged kidnappers were arrested and the man was freed. According to Al Jazeera Arabic, a "well-informed Malaysian source" claimed that an investigation had uncovered an undercover 11-member Mossad cell in Malaysia that was involved in spying on important sites including airports, government electronic companies, and tracking down Palestinian activists. This Mossad cell allegedly consisted of Malaysian nationals who received training in Europe.[104][105][106]

North Korea

Mossad may have been involved in the 2004 explosion of Ryongchon, where several Syrian nuclear scientists working on the Syrian and Iranian nuclear-weapons programs were killed and a train carrying fissionable material was destroyed.[107]

Pakistan

In a September 2003 news article,[108] it was alleged by Rediff News that General Pervez Musharraf, the then-president of Pakistan, decided to establish a clandestine relationship between Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Mossad via officers of the two services posted at their embassies in Washington, DC.

Sri Lanka

Mossad had helped both Sri Lanka and the Eelam. Mossad agent Victor Ostrovsky claimed that Mossad trained both the Sri Lankan armed forces and the LTTE while keeping the two separated. Ravi Jayawardene, head of the STF, had toured Israel in 1984 and took inspiration from the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian Territories to form armed Sinhalese settlements in strategic border areas of the Tamil-dominant Northern and Eastern provinces.[109]

Europe

Austria

In 1954, after Mossad received intelligence that an Israeli officer who had access to classified military technologies, Major Alexander Israel, had approached Egyptian officials in Europe and offered to sell Israeli military secrets and documents, a team of Mossad and Shin Bet officers was quickly sent to Europe to locate him and abduct him, and located him in Vienna. The mission was code-named Operation Bren. A female agent managed to lure him to a meeting through a honey trap operation, and he was subsequently kidnapped, sedated, and flown to Israel aboard a waiting Israeli military plane. However, the plane had to make several refueling stops, and he was given an additional dose of sedatives each time, which ultimately caused him to overdose, killing him. Upon arrival in Israel, after it was discovered that he was dead, he was given a burial at sea, and the case remained highly classified for decades.[110]

Mossad gathered information on Austrian politician Jörg Haider using a mole.[111]

Belgium

Mossad is alleged to be responsible for the killing of Canadian engineer and ballistics expert Gerald Bull on March 22, 1990. He was shot multiple times in the head outside his Brussels apartment.[112] Bull was at the time working for Iraq on the Project Babylon supergun.[113] Others, including Bull's son, believe that 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.[114]

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Assisted in air and overland evacuations of Bosnian Jews from war-torn Sarajevo to Israel in 1992 and 1993.[115]

Cyprus

The killing of Hussein Al Bashir in Nicosia, Cyprus, in 1973 in relation to the Munich massacre.[70]

France

Mossad allegedly assisted Morocco's domestic security service in the disappearance of dissident politician Mehdi Ben Barka in 1965.[116]

Cherbourg Project – Operation Noa, the 1969 smuggling of five Sa'ar 3-class missile boats out of Cherbourg.[citation needed]

The killing of Mahmoud Hamshari, alleged coordinator of the Munich massacre, with an exploding telephone in his Paris apartment in 1972.[70]

The killing of Basil Al Kubaisi, who was involved in the Munich massacre, in Paris in 1973.[70]

The killing of Mohamed Boudia, member of the PFLP, in Paris in 1973.[70]

On April 5, 1979, Mossad agents are believed to have triggered an explosion which destroyed 60 percent of components being built in Toulouse for an Iraqi reactor. Although an environmental organization, Groupe des écologistes français, unheard of before this incident, claimed credit for the blast,[62] most French officials discount the claim. The reactor itself was subsequently destroyed by an Israeli air strike in 1981.[62][117]

The alleged killing of Zuheir Mohsen, a pro-Syrian member of the PLO, in 1979.[118]

The killing of Yehia El-Mashad, the head of the Iraq nuclear weapons program, in 1980.[119]

The alleged killing of Atef Bseiso, a top intelligence officer of the PLO, in Paris in 1992. French police believe that a team of assassins followed Atef Bseiso from Berlin, where that first team connected with another team to close in on him in front of a Left Bank hotel, where he received three head-shots at point blank range.[120]

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.[121]

The sending of letter bombs during the assassination campaign. Some of these attacks were not fatal. Their purpose might not have been to kill the receiver. A Mossad letter bomb led to fugitive Nazi war-criminal Alois Brunner's losing four fingers from his right hand in 1980.[122] Years earlier, on 25 September 1963, the Mossad tried to kill SS-Hauptsturmführer and concentration camp doctor Hans Eisele with a mail bomb. However, the bomb detonated early, instead killing a postal worker.[123][124]

The alleged targeted killing of Wadie Haddad, using poisoned chocolate. Haddad died on 28 March 1978, in the German Democratic Republic supposedly from leukemia. According to the book Striking Back, published by Aharon Klein in 2006, Haddad was eliminated by Mossad, which had sent the chocolate-loving Haddad Belgian chocolates coated with a slow-acting and undetectable poison which caused him to die several months later. "It took him a few long months to die", Klein said in the book.[125]

Mossad discovered that Hezbollah had recruited a German national named Steven Smyrek, and that he was travelling to Israel. In an operation conducted by Mossad, the CIA, the German Internal Security agency Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), and the Israeli Internal Security agency Shin Bet, Smyrek was kept under constant surveillance, and arrested as soon as he landed in Israel.[126]

Greece

The killing of Zaiad Muchasi, Fatah representative to Cyprus, by an explosion in his Athens hotel room in 1973.[70]

Ireland

The assassination of Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh – a senior Hamas military commander – in Dubai, 2010, was suspected to be the work of Mossad, and there were eight Irish passports (six of which were used) fraudulently obtained by the Israeli embassy in DublinIreland for use by alleged Mossad agents in the operation. The Irish government was angered over the use of Irish passports, summoned the Israeli ambassador for an explanation and expelled the Israeli diplomat deemed responsible from Dublin, following an investigation. One of the passports was registered to a residence on Pembroke Road, Ballsbridge, on the same road as the Israeli embassy. The house was empty when later searched, but there was suspicion by Irish authorities it had been used as a Mossad safe house in the past.[127][128] Mossad is reported to have a working relationship with the Irish military intelligence service[129] and has previously tipped the Irish authorities off about arms shipments from the Middle East to Ireland for use by dissident republican militants, resulting in their interception and arrests.[130]

Italy

The killing of Wael Zwaiter, thought to be a member of Black September.[131][132]

In 1986, Mossad used an undercover agent to lure Mordechai Vanunu, in a honey trap style operation, from the United Kingdom to Italy. There, he was abducted and returned to Israel, where he was tried and found guilty of treason because of his role in exposing Israel's nuclear weapons programme.[133]

Malta

The killing of Fathi Shiqaqi. Shiqaqi, a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, was shot several times in the head in 1995 in front of the Diplomat Hotel in SliemaMalta.[134]

Norway

On July 21, 1973, Ahmed Bouchiki, a Moroccan waiter in Lillehammer, Norway, was killed by Mossad agents. 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. Mossad agents had used fake Canadian passports, which angered the Canadian government. Six Mossad agents were arrested, and the incident came to be known as the Lillehammer affair. Israel subsequently paid compensation to Bouchiki's family.[133][135][136]

Serbia

Israel provided weapons to the Serbs during the Bosnian War, possibly due to the pro-Serbian bias of the government of the time,[137] or possibly in exchange for the immigration of the Sarajevo Jewish community to Israel.[138] The Mossad allegedly was responsible for providing Serbian groups with arms.[139]

Switzerland

According to secret CIA and US State Department documents discovered by the Iranian students who took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979:

In Switzerland the Israelis have an Embassy in Bern and a Consulate-General in Zürich which provide cover for Collection Department officers involved in unilateral operations. These Israeli diplomatic installations also maintain close relations with the Swiss on a local level in regard to overt functions such as physical security for Israeli official and commercial installations in the country and the protection of staff members and visiting Israelis. There is also close collaboration between the Israelis and Swiss on scientific and technical matters pertaining to intelligence and security operations. Swiss officials have made frequent trips to Israel. There is a continual flow of Israelis to and through Switzerland. These visits, however, are usually arranged through the Political Action and Liaison regional controller at the Embassy in Paris directly with the Swiss and not through the officials in the Israeli Embassy in Bern, although the latter are kept informed.[citation needed]

In February 1998, five Mossad agents were caught wiretapping the home of a Hezbollah agent in a Bern suburb. Four agents were freed, but the fifth was tried, found guilty, sentenced to one year in prison, and following his release was banned from entering Switzerland for five years.[140]

Soviet Union

Mossad was involved in outreach to refuseniks in the Soviet Union during the crackdown on Soviet Jews in the period between the 1950s and the 1980s. Mossad helped establish contact with Refuseniks in the USSR, and helped them acquire Jewish religious items, banned by the Soviet government, in addition to passing communications into and out of the USSR. Many rabbinical students from Western countries travelled to the Soviet Union as part of this program in order to establish and maintain contact with refuseniks.

United Kingdom

In 1984 Mossad agents were caught attempting to kidnap Nigerian politician Umaru Dikko from London. On July 4, 1984 customs officials at Stansted airport discovered Dikko in a crate about to be flown to Nigeria. Agents Alexander Barak, Felix Abithol and anesthetist Dr Levi-Arie Shapiro were given prison sentences of between ten and fourteen years.

In 1986, a bag containing eight forged British passports was discovered in a telephone booth in West Germany. The passports had been the work of Mossad and were intended for the Israeli Embassy in London for use in covert operations. The British government, furious, demanded that Israel give a promise not forge its passports again, which was obtained.[141]

On June 15, 1988, following the trial and conviction of a Palestinian post-graduate student studying at Hull University, Ismail Sowan, two Mossad agents were expelled from the UK. Sowan was found in possession of a large arms cache and was sentenced to eleven years in prison. During his trial it had been revealed that he had employed by Mossad for ten years. The Mossad agents, Arie Regev and Jacob Barad, were Sowan’s controllers. They had failed to inform MI6 of Sowan’s activities and that they were aware that a Palestinian, Abd al-Rahim Mustapha, believed to be involved in the assassination of Naji al-Ali had entered the country illegally.[142] The Mossad station in UK remained closed until the 1994 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in London.

Ukraine

In February 2011, a Palestinian engineer, Dirar Abu Seesi, was allegedly pulled off a train by Mossad agents en route to the capital Kyiv from Kharkiv. He had been planning to apply for Ukrainian citizenship, and reappeared in an Israeli jail only three weeks after the incident.[143]

Oceania

New Zealand

In July 2004, New Zealand imposed diplomatic sanctions on Israel over an incident in which two Australia-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.[144] 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 apprehended.[145]

In popular culture

Films (including made-for-television movies)
Literature

(Alphabetical by author's surname)

  • In Jeffrey Archer's novel Honour Among Thieves (1993), the lead female protagonist is a Mossad agent.
  • In book 4 of Mark Greaney's Gray Man series, Dead Eye, Mossad and the CIA partner to capture the world's most feared and lethal rogue former black ops agent Courtland Gentry.
  • Daniel Silva's spy novel series is centered on fictional Mossad agent and assassin, Gabriel Allon. The term "Mossad" is never used in the novels, but the protagonist is described as working for Israel's intelligence service (which the characters refer to simply as "the Office").
  • John Le Carre's novel The Little Drummer Girl (1983) describes a fictional Mossad operation against Palestinian terrorists.
  • Frederick Forsyth's novel The Fist of God describes the inner workings of various Mossad divisions.
Television

(Alphabetical by show)

  • Tehran (2020–present) is a spy thriller television series about a Mossad agent working undercover in Iran.
  • In the TV series The Blacklist (2013–present), Mossad agent Samar Navabi (played by Mozhan Marnò) is one of the side characters.
  • In the TV series Covert Affairs (2010–2015), Mossad agent Eyal Lavin is a recurring character.
  • Since the NCIS season 3 episode "Kill Ari (Part 1)" (2005), Mossad has played an instrumental part. Mossad's presence includes one of the main characters, Agent Ziva David, who is a former Mossad Agent. She originally filled the position of Mossad liaison to NCIS, until the end of season 7, when she became a full-time NCIS agent. Her father, Eli David, was the director of Mossad, until the season 10 episode "Shabbat Shalom", when he was killed. Many other characters have been included in the show from Mossad, including Michael Rivkin and Ari Haswari. Some episodes of the show have taken place in Israel.
  • The Spy (2019) is a web television miniseries on the life of top Mossad spy Eli Cohen.

See also

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ Also referred to as "the Mossad" (Hebrewהַמּוֹסָדromanizedha-MosádIPA: [hamoˈsad]Arabicالموسادromanizedal-MōsādIPA: [almoːˈsaːd]lit. 'the Institute').
  2. ^ Argentina claimed that the "illicit and clandestine transfer of Eichmann from Argentine territory constitutes a flagrant violation of the Argentine State's right of sovereignty[.]"[39] 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[.][40] 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. For example, 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.[41]

References

  1. ^ Levinson, Chaim (August 26, 2018). "A Golden Age for the Mossad: More Targets, More Ops, More Money"Haaretz. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  2. ^ "Mossad | History & Functions | Britannica"www.britannica.com. December 18, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  3. Jump up to:a b "Mossad"www.mossad.gov.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  4. Jump up to:a b "Israel: Foreign Intelligence and Security Service" (PDF). March 1979. 8, 10, 15. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  5. ^ "Ministry of Intelligence" (in Hebrew).
  6. ^ "The secret history of Mossad, Israel's feared and respected intelligence agency"New Statesman. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  7. ^ Shoan, Amir (February 1, 2018). "'If she wants to, a woman can head the Mossad'"Ynet. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  8. Jump up to:a b c Bergman, Ronen (October 2, 2017). "Gender revolution in Mossad ranks"Ynet. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  9. Jump up to:a b c Thomas, Gordon (February 17, 2010). "Mossad's licence to kill"Daily TelegraphArchived from the original on January 11, 2022. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  10. ^ Moore, Jack (December 9, 2015). "Who Is Yossi Cohen, Mossad's New Spymaster?"Newsweek. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  11. ^ "Veteran Mossad operative named Israeli spy agency's new chief"Reuters. May 21, 2021. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  12. ^ Israel Vs. Iran: The Shadow War, Potomac Books, Inc, 2012, page 91, By Yaakov Katz, Yoaz Hendel
  13. ^ Workings of Israel's secret service exposed, London Times, 2 August 1996
  14. ^ "Libertad Ventures"libertad.gov.il.
  15. Jump up to:a b ISRAEL'S MOSSAD IS LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD STARTUPS BY HERB KEINON, JUNE 27, 2017, Jerusalem Post
  16. ^ "Mossad's licence to kill"The Daily Telegraph. February 17, 2010.
  17. ^ Melman, Yossi (February 25, 2001). "All the Fugitive's Men in Israel"Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  18. ^ "What if they are innocent?"The Guardian. April 17, 2009. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  19. Jump up to:a b Thomas, Gordon (November 19, 2015). Gideon's Spies: Mossad's Secret Warriors. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-0330375375.
  20. ^ Kahana, Ephraim (April 19, 2006). Historical Dictionary of Israeli Intelligence (Historical Dictionaries of Intelligence and Counterintelligence). Scarecrow Press; Illustrated edition. p. 244. ISBN 978-0810855816.
  21. ^ Hallel, Amir (October 1, 2004). "At home with the Mossad men"New Zealand Herald. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  22. ^ Richelson, Jeffrey T. (February 15, 2007). "The Mossad Imagined: The Israeli Secret Service in Film and Fiction"International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence20 (1): 138. doi:10.1080/08850600600889431S2CID 154278415. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  23. ^ Dajani, Jamal (December 6, 2017). "Mossad's Little Helpers"Huffington Post. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  24. ^ Ostrovsky, Victor; Hoy, Claire (1991). By Way of Deception: A Devastating Insider's Portrait of the Mossad. Toronto: General Paperback. pp. 76–77. ISBN 978-0-7736-7316-8.
  25. ^ "Proverbs 11:14 For lack of guidance, a nation falls, but with many counselors comes deliverance"biblehub.com. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  26. ^ OP. HARPOON: HOW THE MOSSAD AND AN ISRAELI NGO DESTROYED TERRORIST MONEY NETWORKSJerusalem Post, 7 Nov 2017
  27. ^ Following the Money, By Yishai Schwartz, January 18, 2018
  28. ^ Sirrs, Owen L. (2006). Nasser and the Missile Age in the Middle East. Routledge. p. 93. ISBN 9780415407984.
  29. Jump up to:a b Bergman, Ronen (January 25, 2012). "Will Israel Attack Iran?"The New York Times. Retrieved March 2, 2012.
  30. Jump up to:a b The Forward and Dan Raviv And Yossi Melman (March 27, 2016). "The Strange Case of a Nazi Who Became an Israeli Hitman"Haaretz.
  31. ^ "Israel Intelligence and covert operations: Chronology 1948 – 1955". Zionism-israel. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  32. Jump up to:a b c Ross, Michael (2007). The Volunteer. Skyhorse Publishing. pp. 251–272. ISBN 978-1602391321.
  33. ^ Aburish, Said K. (1998). From Defender to Dictator. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 203–210. ISBN 978-1-58234-049-4.
  34. ^ Aburish, Said K. (1998). From Defender to Dictator. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-58234-049-4.
  35. ^ Report: Hamas operative known as 'The Engineer' assassinated by Mossad in Tunisia By JPOST.COM STAFF, 12/16/2016
  36. ^ Tunisia investigating Mossad-suspected assassination Roi Kais, 17 December 2016, ynetnews
  37. ^ Roffe-Ofir, Sharon (2006). "Mossad took photos, Entebbe Operation was on its way"Ynetnews. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
  38. ^ "Israel marks 30th anniversary of Entebbe." Associated Press in USA Today. July 5, 2006.
  39. ^ 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.
  40. ^ 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)
  41. ^ Higgins, Rosalyn and Maurice Floy. (1997). Terrorism and International Law. UK: Routledge. (p. 48)
  42. ^ "Security Council Resolution 138, "Question Relating to the Case of Adolf Eichmann"". UN. Archived from the original on November 26, 2011. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  43. ^ Posner, Gerald L.; John Ware. "How Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele cheated justice for 34 years"Chicago Tribune Magazine. May 18, 1986.
  44. Jump up to:a b Officials Told of ‘Major Assault’ Plans.
  45. ^ "The disturbing reason Jeffrey Epstein's homes had a camera in every room"7NEWS. December 9, 2019. Archived from the original on December 27, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
  46. ^ McKay, Hollie (June 17, 2020). "Jeffrey Epstein's alleged 'spy' ties under fresh scrutiny in new book"Fox NewsArchived from the original on January 7, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
  47. ^ O’ Malley, JP. "For writer who broke Epstein case, a rumored Mossad link is worth digging into"The Times of IsraelArchived from the original on January 4, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
  48. ^ Correspondent, Jack Royston Chief Royal (October 5, 2023). "Prince Andrew's accuser shares Jeffrey Epstein spy theory"NewsweekArchived from the original on January 7, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
  49. ^ "Simon Wiesenthal Center". Wiesenthal. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  50. ^ "Mossad chief reportedly visited Saudi Arabia for talks on Iran"Haaretz.
  51. ^ "Israeli army report reveals intelligence and security relations with several Arab and Muslim countries"middleeastmonitor.com. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014.
  52. ^ IranLibrary of Congress Country Studies (pp 276). Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  53. ^ Ervand Abrahamian, Tortured Confessions (University of California Press, 1999), p. 104
  54. ^ "CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY – Encyclopaedia Iranica"www.iranicaonline.org. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  55. ^ Linzer, Dafna. "Former Iranian Defense Official Talks to Western Intelligence", The Washington Post, March 8, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2007.
  56. ^ Mahnaimi, Uzi. "Defector spied on Iran for years", The Sunday Times, March 11, 2007. Retrieved March 11, 2007.
  57. ^ 'Iran mourns missile commander killed in blastt' New York Times November 14, 2011
  58. ^ 'Mossad behind Iranian military base blast' Ynet, October 25, 2010
  59. ^ "Geopolitical Diary: Israeli Covert Operations in Iran"Stratfor. February 2, 2007. Archived from the original on October 10, 2009. Retrieved February 4, 2007.(requires premium subscription)
  60. ^ Mossad’s stunning op in Iran overshadows the actual intelligence it stole Times of Israel, May 1, 2018
  61. ^ European intelligence officials briefed in Israel on Iran’s nuclear archive Times of Israel, May 5, 2018
  62. Jump up to:a b c Ostrovsky, Victor (1990), By Way of Deception – The making and unmaking of a Mossad Officer, New York: St. Martin's Press, ISBN 978-0-9717595-0-3
  63. ^ McGeough, Paul (2009) Kill Khalid – The Failed Mossad Assassination of Khalid Mishal and the Rise of Hamas. Quartet Books. ISBN 978-0-7043-7157-6. Pages 126,127.
  64. Jump up to:a b Cowell, Alan (October 15, 1997). "The Daring Attack That Blew Up in Israel's Face"The New York Times.
  65. ^ McGeough, Paul (2009) Kill Khalid – The Failed Mossad Assassination of Khalid Mishal and the Rise of Hamas. Quartet Books. ISBN 978-0-7043-7157-6. Page 184.
  66. ^ Guerin, Orla. "Arafat: On borrowed time", BBC News, June 29, 2002. Retrieved October 27, 2006.
  67. ^ Barbara Harlow (Winter–Spring 1986). "Return to Haifa: "Opening the Borders" in Palestinian Literature". Social Text. No. 13/14 (13/14): 3–23. JSTOR 466196.
  68. ^ Life and Death of a TerroristThe New York Times, July 10, 1983.
  69. ^ Shalev, Noam 'The hunt for Black September'BBC News Online, January 26, 2006. Retrieved March 14, 2006.
  70. Jump up to:a b c d e f Israeli "Hits" On Terrorists, Jewish Virtual Library, last updated December 18, 2007. Retrieved December 24, 2007.
  71. ^ Blanford, Nicholas (June 15, 2006). "Lebanon exposes deadly Israeli spy ring"The Times. London. Retrieved August 14, 2006.
  72. ^ "Beirut blast kills Hezbollah fighter". BBC News. August 2, 2003. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
  73. ^ "Beirut bomb kills Hezbollah man". BBC News. July 19, 2004. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
  74. ^ Mrque, Baseem (May 26, 2006). "Islamic Jihad Leader Killed in Lebanon"The Washington Post. Washington. Retrieved January 22, 2010.
  75. ^ "Lebanon arrests another 2 over spying for Israel"Ya Libnan. June 28, 2010. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
  76. ^ "Lebanon: Israeli spying cell busted"Xinhua. June 13, 2006. Archived from the original on February 11, 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
  77. ^ Bergman, Ronen (January 23, 2018). "How Arafat Eluded Israel's Assassination Machine"New York Times.
  78. ^ Poisoned toothpaste and exploding phones: New book chronicles Israel’s ‘2,700’ assassination operations Ethan Bronner, Saturday 27 January 2018, The Independent.
  79. ^ Our Man in Damascus, 1969.
  80. Jump up to:a b c d Ronen Bergman, The Spies Inside Damascus Foreign Policy, September 19, 2013
  81. ^ Hamas member assassinated in Syria News From Bangladesh, September 27, 2004
  82. ^ Assassinations: the work of Mossad? Times, February 16, 2010
  83. ^ Mahnaimi, Uzi; Jaber, Hala; Swain, Jon (February 17, 2008). "Israel kills terror chief with headrest bomb"The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved February 16, 2008.
  84. ^ Top Russian spy’s body washes up 'after swimming accident’, Telegraph
  85. ^ Israel's Red Line: Fate of Syrian Chemical Weapons May Trigger WarDer Spiegel, By Ronen Bergman, Juliane von Mittelstaedt, Matthias Schepp and Holger Stark, July 31, 2012
  86. ^ "A Top Syrian Scientist Is Killed, and Fingers Point at Israel"The New York Times. August 6, 2018.
  87. ^ Dubai Releases Video Of Alleged Assassins In Hamas Chief Killing Huffington Post February 16, 2010, attributed to Associated Press
  88. ^ UAE: European team killed Mabhouh Jerusalem Post and Associated Press, February 15, 2010
  89. ^ Katz, Yaakov (January 31, 2010). "Analysis: Another blow to the 'axis of evil'"The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  90. ^ Issacharoff, Avi (February 2, 2010). "Who killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh? / Many wanted Hamas man dead"Haaretz. Retrieved February 2, 2010.
  91. ^ Melman, Yossi (February 11, 2010). "10 agents including 3 women, took part in Dubai Hamas assassinationHaaretz. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
  92. ^ "Dubai suspects had five fake Irish passports"RTÉ News. February 18, 2010. Retrieved February 21, 2010.
  93. ^ "Man in photo on Hamas leader hit squad passport not my son, says mum"The Australian. February 25, 2010. Retrieved February 25, 2010.
  94. ^ 'U.K. police in Israel to probe passports used in Dubai hit' (Haaretz, February 27, 2010
  95. ^ 'Interpol adds suspected Dubai assassins to most wanted listHaaretz February 22, 2010)
  96. ^ Israeli PM's arrest sought over murder News, March 3, 2010
  97. Jump up to:a b RAW and MOSSAD, the Secret Link,rediff.com
  98. ^ "An ex-RAW employee takes boss to unveil a riveting story of safe houses for Mossad, fake firms and secret funds"India Today. March 15, 2013. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  99. ^ Rajshekhar Jha (November 15, 2015). "Mossad, MI5 roped in to shield Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Turkey?"The Times of India. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  100. ^ "Mossad may be protecting Modi at Turkey G20 summit, paper claims"The Times of Israel. November 15, 2015. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  101. ^ "Fadi al-Batsh killing: Israel dismisses involvement"BBC News. April 22, 2018. Archived from the original on January 10, 2022. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  102. ^ "Israel dismisses suggestions it killed Palestinian in Malaysia"Reuters. April 22, 2018. Archived from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  103. ^ "Palestinian engineer 'killed by Mossad' in Malaysia, says family"Middle East Eye. April 21, 2018. Archived from the original on October 18, 2022. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  104. ^ "Mossad used locals to kidnap Palestinian"New Straits Times. October 18, 2022. Archived from the original on October 20, 2022. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  105. ^ "Malaysian media says Israel's Mossad behind kidnapped Palestinian"Al Jazeera. October 18, 2022. Archived from the original on October 19, 2022. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  106. ^ "Malaysian forces free Gazan after alleged Mossad abduction in Kuala Lumpur – report"The Times of Israel. October 18, 2022. Archived from the original on October 19, 2022. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  107. ^ Thomas, Gordon: Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad (Fifth Edition)
  108. ^ "RAW & Mossad: The Secret Link"rediff.com. September 8, 2003.
  109. ^ Hoole, Rajan (October 17, 2014). Sri Lanka: The Arrogance of Power: Myths, Decadence & Murder. UTHR-J. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  110. ^ Goldman, Jan: Ethics of Spying: A Reader for the Intelligence Professional, Volume 2 p. 63-64
  111. ^ Boyes, Roger (June 2, 2005). "Mossad spied on farright Austrian"The Times. London.
  112. ^ "Murdered by the Mossad?" (asf)Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. February 12, 1991. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  113. ^ Frum, Barbara (April 5, 1990). "Who killed Gerald Bull? (Video) – CBC". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
  114. ^ Dr. Gerald Bull: Scientist, Weapons Maker, Dreamer at CBC.ca
  115. ^ Traynor, Ian. Cover story: Those who are calledThe Guardian 10 December 1994
  116. ^ Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi (1987) The Israeli connection, I.B.Tauris, p. 46.
  117. ^ "FRANCE PROTESTS TO ISRAEL ON RAID", The New York Times, June 10, 1981. Retrieved November 16, 2006.
  118. ^ Friedman, From Beirut to Jerusalem (HarperCollins Publishers, 1998, 2nd ed.), p. 118
  119. ^ Ford, Peter S., Major, USAF, "Israel's Attack on Osiraq: A Model for Future Preventive Strikes?", INSS Occasional Paper 59, USAF Institute for National Security Studies, USAF Academy, Colorado, July 2005, p. 15
  120. ^ Striking Back: The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel's Deadly Response, ISBN 0-8129-7463-8
  121. ^ ISRAEL The Plumbat Operation (1968) retrieved 10/12/2008
  122. ^ Henley, Jon (March 3, 2001). "French court strikes blow against fugitive Nazi"The Guardian. Retrieved October 27, 2006.
  123. ^ Cite error: The named reference Independent was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  124. ^ Bergman, Ronen (July 9, 2019). Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations. Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8129-8211-4.
  125. ^ "Israel used chocs to poison Palestinian"SMH. May 8, 2008. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
  126. ^ Ross, Michael, The Volunteer, pp. 158–159
  127. ^ Black, Ian (June 15, 2010). "Ireland orders Israeli diplomat out of embassy over forged passports"The Guardian. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  128. ^ "Mossad and the Irish connection"Irish Independent. December 1, 2012. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  129. ^ "Secret army squad keeps watch on 60 Al Qaeda in Ireland"Irish Daily Star. March 26, 2013. Archived from the original on August 20, 2014. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  130. ^ O'Hanlon, Ray (February 16, 2011). "Inside File The Mossad's long arm"Irish Echo. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  131. ^ Johnson, Ken (February 13, 2009). "Material for a Palestinian's Life and Death"The New York Times. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  132. ^ ""An Eye for an Eye", Bob Simon". CBS News. November 20, 2011. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  133. Jump up to:a b "Capturing nuclear whistle-blower"Haaretz. Archived from the original on February 21, 2009.
  134. ^ "Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)"Military.com. Archived from the original on April 10, 2005. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  135. ^ "Israelis to Compensate Family of Slain Waiter"The New York Times. January 28, 1996. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  136. ^ "TERRORISM: Fatal Error"Time. August 6, 1973. Archived from the original on March 7, 2008.
  137. ^ How are Bosnia's Serbs getting Israeli arms?, By Tom Sawicki, The Jerusalem Report, January 1995
  138. ^ Intelligence and the War in Bosnia, 1992–1995 (New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction, 2003), 215.
  139. ^ America used Islamists to arm the Bosnian Muslims Richard J Aldrich, Monday 22 April 2002, The Guardian
  140. ^ Probert, Roy (July 7, 2000). "Mossad agent gets 12-month suspended sentence"Swissinfo. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  141. ^ Weber, Yonatan (June 20, 1995). "Expelling Israeli diplomats: Thatcher did it first - Israel News, Ynetnews"Ynetnews. Ynetnews.com. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  142. ^ Middle East International No 328, 24 June 1988, Publishers Lord MayhewDennis Walters MP; George Joffe p.5
  143. ^ "UN confirms Mossad kidnaps Gaza's chief power plant engineer, Dirar Abu Seesi, from Ukraine, suspects Ukrainian help"WikiLeaks Central. March 10, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
  144. ^ "Israeli government apologises to New Zealand"The New Zealand HeraldNZPA. June 26, 2005. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
  145. ^ Hallel, Amir (October 2, 2004). "At home with the Mossad men"The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved October 26, 2011.

Further reading

External links

 

  Tamir Pardo

Former Head of Mossad 2011 to 2016 which is Isrsel's Security Agency Tamir Pardo - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamir_Pardo#:~:text=Tamir%20Pardo%20(Hebrew%3A%20%D7%AA%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%A8%20%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%93%D7%95,role%20from%202011%20until%202016

Tamir Pardo (Hebrewתמיר פרדו; born 1953) is the former Director of Mossad, taking over the role from Meir Dagan on January 1, 2011. The appointment was announced by Israeli prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on November 29, 2010.[1] He served in the role from 2011 until 2016.

Tamir Pardo
תמיר פרדו

Pardo in 2015
 
11th Director of the Mossad
In office
January 1, 2011 – January 5, 2016
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Preceded by Meir Dagan
Succeeded by Yossi Cohen
Personal details
Born 1953
Tel AvivIsrael
Alma mater Tel Aviv University
Military service
Allegiance Israel Israel
Branch/service Israel Defense Forces
Years of service 1971–present
Battles/wars Operation Entebbe
 

Since he stepped down as Director of Mossad, he has been a vocal critic of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his 2023 judicial reforms. He has called for Netanyahu to resign and stand trial on charges of engaging in a coup, and accused the Israeli government of overseeing an apartheid state.[2][3][4][5] He has also accused Netanyahu of planning to directly attack Iran, and of spying on both himself and Benny Gantz, then chief of General Staff of the IDF.[6][7][8]

Biography

Since he stepped down as Director of Mossad, he has been a vocal critic of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his 2023 judicial reforms. He has called for Netanyahu to resign and stand trial on charges of engaging in a coup, and accused the Israeli government of overseeing an apartheid state.[2][3][4][5] He has also accused Netanyahu of planning to directly attack Iran, and of spying on both himself and Benny Gantz, then chief of General Staff of the IDF.[6][7][8]

Biography

Pardo was born in Tel Aviv to a Sephardi-Jewish family. His father was an immigrant from Turkey, and his mother was of Serbian-Jewish origin. At age 18, when he began his compulsory service in the Israel Defense Forces, he volunteered for the paratroopers. He graduated from an officers' course, and later served as a communication officer in the elite special forces unit Sayeret Matkal. He also served in the Shaldag Unit. He was a member of the unit under the command of Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu and participated in Operation Entebbe. Netanyahu, elder brother to current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was killed during the operation.

After completing his military service, Pardo joined the Mossad in 1980, and served in entry-level technical positions. He took part in several classified operations, and was awarded the Israel Security Prize three times. He rose through the ranks and eventually became head of the "Keshet" department, responsible for operations, including obtaining electronic intelligence through wiretaps and photographic methods. In 2005, he was in line for promotion to the organization's number 2 position, when another individual was given the job. Mossad Director-General Meir Dagan thereupon lent Pardo to the IDF, where he served as a senior advisor for operations to the Israeli General Staff. He served in this position during the 2006 Lebanon War. After Dagan fired his number 2, he invited Pardo to return to the Mossad and assume the role. Pardo did so in the belief that when Dagan retired, he would be offered the job. However, Dagan's term was extended and he did not retire when expected. This led Pardo to leave the Mossad, whereupon he went into private business with Israeli Internet gambling entrepreneur Noam Lanir, and to serve as chairman of Shizim Group.

Mossad leadershipedit

Israeli media reported that Netanyahu's first candidate for the role of Mossad chief, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries's CEO, retired Major General Shlomo Yanai, was offered the job but turned it down. Of several other candidates, Pardo was the only one to have served in the Mossad. His choice may reflect a wish on the part of Prime Minister Netanyahu to signal continuity by choosing a candidate from within the ranks.[9]

It was anticipated that Pardo would continue the work of his predecessor, Meir Dagan, in attempting to thwart any attempts by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to build a nuclear weapon.[10]

On August 2, 2011, German news website Spiegel Online published an article named "Mossad Behind Tehran Assassinations, Says Source", claiming receiving information from "an Israeli intelligence source", linking Mossad under Tamir Pardo as its chief to the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Darioush Rezaeinejad in Tehran on July 23, 2011.[11] The report was reprinted by several news agencies, yet without providing additional sources to confirm the information.[12][13][14][15][16]

Post–Mossadedit

In June 2016, the American NGO United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) announced that Pardo had joined the group's Advisory Board.[17] Upon joining, Pardo said, "The leading global powers cannot turn a blind eye to the clear and present dangers the Iranian regime poses to the safety and freedoms of millions of people within their borders and throughout the world."[18]

In addition, in 2016 Pardo founded together with Noam Erez, and Boaz Gorodiski XM Cyber, a company that developed a technology to help other companies improve their cyber defense by simulating organized cyber attacks.[19]

During an interview with Haaretz in May 2018, Pardo said that in 2011 Netanyahu ordered the Mossad and IDF to prepare for an attack on Iran within 15 days, but he and Chief of Staff Benny Gantz questioned the Prime Minister's legal authority to give such an order without Cabinet approval, so Netanyahu backed off.[20]

In June 2018 Pardo stated that Mossad was 'a crime organization with a license,' something which, he added, made working for it the 'fun part'.[21]

On 6 September 2023 in a statement to the Associated Press, Pardo claimed that Israel is an apartheid state: “There is an apartheid state here. In a territory where two people are judged under two legal systems, that is an apartheid state."[2][22] He also claimed that while Director of Mossad he saw the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the most important threat to Israel, and "repeatedly warned Netanyahu that he needed to decide what Israel’s borders were, or risk the destruction of a state for the Jews."[2][23]

Referencesedit

  1. ^ Melman, Yossi (November 29, 2010). "Who is new Mossad chief Tamir Pardo?"Haaretz. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  2. Jump up to:a b c Goldenberg, Tia (2023-09-06). "A former Mossad chief says Israel is enforcing an apartheid system in the West Bank"AP News. Archived from the original on 2023-09-06. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  3. ^ "Former Mossad Head Calls for Netanyahu to Resign, Asks on 'Every Israeli Citizen' to Protest"Haaretz. 2023-02-16. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  4. ^ "Ex-Mossad chief Pardo says Netanyahu should be put on trial if legal overhaul passes"Times of Israel. 2023-07-20. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  5. ^ Shamir, Jonathan (2023-07-23). "Ex-Mossad Chief Compares Israeli Right to the KKK"Haaretz. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  6. ^ "Ex-Mossad Chief Says He Questioned Legality of Netanyahu's Order to Prepare Iran Strike"Haaretz. 2023-05-31. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  7. ^ Gross, Judah Ari. "Netanyahu asked Shin Bet to tap phones of IDF, Mossad heads — report"www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  8. ^ Harel, Amos (2018-06-01). "A Non-denial Denial: Did Netanyahu Ask ex-Shin Bet Chief to Tap IDF, Mossad Heads?"Haaretz. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  9. ^ Melman, Yossi (November 29, 2010). ראש המוסד הבא תמיר פרדו - מהתפקיד הזוטר ביותר עד לצמרת הארגון [Next Mossad chief Tamir Pardo—from the lowest job to the top of the organization]. Haaretz (in Hebrew). Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  10. ^ Gross, Tom (December 12, 2010). "Egypt claims Mossad to blame for shark attacks (& details of new Mossad head)". Tom Gross Media. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  11. ^ Ulrike Putz (August 2, 2011). "Mossad Behind Tehran Assassinations, Says Source"Spiegel Online. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  12. ^ "'Mossad shot dead' Iranian scientist"The Sydney Morning Herald. AFP. August 2, 2011. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  13. ^ "Mossad behind murder of Iranian scientist". Middle East Online. August 2, 2011. Archived from the original on August 27, 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  14. ^ "Der Spiegel: Israel killed Iranian". UPI. August 2, 2011. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  15. ^ "Israel's Mossad behind killing of Iranian scientist: report". IBN Live. August 2, 2011. Archived from the original on October 16, 2012. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  16. ^ Ofer Aderet (August 2, 2011). "Israel's new Mossad chief behind assassination of Iran nuclear scientist"Haaretz. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  17. ^ "Former Mossad director joins anti-Iran organization"Ynetnews. 18 June 2016.
  18. ^ "UANI Expands Global Reach, Deepens Defense and Foreign Policy Expertise with New Advisory Board Members"United Against Nuclear Iran. 16 June 2016.
  19. ^ "Cybersecurity startup XM Cyber acquired for $700 million by Schwarz Group"CTECH - www.calcalistech.com. 22 November 2021.
  20. ^ "Ex-Mossad Chief Says He Questioned Legality of Netanyahu's Order to Prepare Iran Strike"Haaretz. May 31, 2018.
  21. ^ Noa Landau,  https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-netanyahu-responds-to-ex-spy-chief-mossad-is-no-crime-organization-1.6138956 Former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo said it's 'a crime organization with a license.' Haaretz 3 June 2018.
  22. ^ McGreal, Chris (6 September 2023). "Israel imposing apartheid on Palestinians, says former Mossad chief"The Guardian.
  23. ^ "Former Mossad chief: Israel enforcing apartheid system against Palestinians"www.aljazeera.com. Al Jazeera. 6 September 2023.

Yossi Cohen - Wikipedia

Yosef "Yossi" Meir Cohen (Hebrewיוסף מאיר כהן; born 10 September 1961)[1] is a former Director of Mossad, the national intelligence agency of Israel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yossi_Cohen 

Yossi Cohen יוסי כהן

Yossi Cohen in 2016
Director of Mossad
In office
5 January 2016 – 1 June 2021
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Preceded by Tamir Pardo
Succeeded by David Barnea
In office
August 2013 – January 2016
Preceded by Yaakov Amidror
Personal details
Born: 10 September 1961 (age 62)
Jerusalem
Early Life of Yossi Cohen
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, flanked by U.S. Special Envoy for Israeli–Palestinian Negotiations Frank Lowenstein and Israeli National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen, on 11 November 2015, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Cohen was born in Jerusalem to a religious family and grew up in the Katamon neighborhood. His father Aryeh was an eighth-generation Sabra who was descended from one of the founding families of the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem. He worked in a senior position at Bank Mizrahi and was also an Irgun veteran.[2] His mother Mina was a teacher and school principal.[3] She was a seventh-generation Sabra, born to a Jewish family rooted in Hebron, now part of the West Bank.

Cohen was raised in a religious household and was a member of the Bnei Akiva religious Zionist youth movement. He attended the religious high school Yeshivat Or Etzion.[2]

Career of Yossi Cohen

Cohen was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces in 1979. He volunteered as a paratrooper in the 35th Paratroopers Brigade. He served as a soldier and a squad leader.[4] After being discharged, he studied at university in London, and joined the Mossad in 1982. Cohen has been described as 'able to inspire the confidence of his charges'.[5] He became a case officer, charged with recruiting and handling spies in foreign nations. While in training, he had been the only religious candidate in the Mossad's case officer course at the time.[2] He ran agents in a number of countries over his career, and rose to lead the Mossad's collections division ("Tsomet").[6] From 2011 to 2013, he was the deputy director of the Mossad,[7] serving under Tamir Pardo. He was known publicly as "Y" (Hebrew: "י") in this post.[8] Cohen won the prestigious Israel Security Prize for his Mossad work.[9]

In August 2013, he was appointed the National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of IsraelBenjamin Netanyahu. In December 2015, Cohen was appointed to succeed Tamir Pardo as director of the Mossad.[10][11] and assumed office in January 2016. Cohen is one of the closest officials to Netanyahu.[12]

In January 2018, Cohen oversaw the Mossad operation to steal Iran's secret nuclear archive in Tehran and smuggle it out of the country.[12] According to the Jerusalem Post, a map of nuclear sites captured in the operation has not yet been made public.[12] Among the assassinations attributed to the Mossad during Cohen's tenure were those of Hamas drone expert Mohamed Zouari in Tunisia, Hamas rocket expert Fadi Mohammad al-Batsh in Malaysia, and Iranian nuclear program chief Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in Iran.[13][14][15]

Cohen has also been the chief Israeli official in charge of managing Israel's largely clandestine relations with various Arab nations. He has often met with representatives of Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar and helped negotiate Netanyahu's visit to Oman in 2018. Reportedly, he met Sudan's chief of intelligence, though the Sudanese intelligence service denied it. He was Israel's chief negotiator in arranging the Israel–United Arab Emirates peace agreement.[16][17][18]

Intelligence reporter Ronen Bergman has written that Cohen has a reputation as a tough boss, that he speaks fluent English, French, and Arabic.[19] He is also a marathon runner and is known as 'The Model' for his stylish appearance.[5]

Netanyahu reportedly considered Cohen to be the best person to succeed him as prime minister when he leaves office.[12] In September 2019, The Jerusalem Post listed Cohen as the most influential Jew of the year.[20]

In June 2021, Cohen retired from Israel’s national intelligence agency[21]

 Political Views of Yossi Cohen

At a conference in 2019 in Herzliya, Israel, Cohen announced that Israel has a unique window of opportunity to reach a comprehensive peace agreement with the Palestinians. He stated that this is also the view of the Mossad unit whose job it is to analyze diplomatic opportunities. Given the present good relations with the United States, the Russian government, and restoration of partial diplomatic ties with the Arab states of the Persian Gulf centered around opposition to Iran, in Cohen's view there is a one-time opportunity for Middle East peace under terms very beneficial to Israel that the Israeli government must now seize.[22]

The Jerusalem Post reported in September 2019 that Cohen "does not believe anything will move on the peace process until Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas leaves office."[12]

 Family of Yossi Cohen

Cohen and his wife Aya have four children.[9] One of his sons, Yonatan, is a former officer in Unit 8200 and has cerebral palsy.[23] He also has one granddaughter. Cohen lives in Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut and is a Masorti Jew.[24]

References

  1. ^ "Deputy Mossad chief appointed national security adviser"The Times of Israel. 21 August 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  2. Jump up to:a b c Wootliff, Raoul (7 December 2015). "Netanyahu said set to tap Yossi Cohen as next Mossad chief"The Times of Israel. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  3. ^ Dolev, Tom (7 December 2015). "The next Mossad Director – Yossi Cohen"Jerusalem Online. Archived from the original on 10 December 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  4. ^ Levinson, Chaim (26 August 2018). "A Golden Age for the Mossad: More Targets, More Ops, More Money"Haaretz. Archived from the original on 24 August 2018.
  5. Jump up to:a b Lynfield, Ben (8 December 2015). "The Israeli spymaster straight out of Le Carré"The Independent. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  6. ^ "Veteran Spy-Runner Moves from Mossad to be Netanyahu's Chief Advisor on National Security — Iran Options Are a Key Focus"IsraelSpy.com. 21 August 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  7. ^ "Jewish 100, 2015: Yossi Cohen – Government"Algemeiner.com.
  8. ^ Bergman, Ronen (5 June 2011). "Mossad chief names new deputy"Ynetnews. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  9. Jump up to:a b Keinon, Herb (21 August 2013). "PM names deputy Mossad head as new National Security council chief"The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  10. ^ "Yossi Cohen is next Mossad Director"Debka.com. 7 December 2015.
  11. ^ "Yossi Cohen named new Mossad chief"The Jerusalem Post. 7 December 2015.
  12. Jump up to:a b c d e Bob, Yonah Jeremy (September 29, 2019). "Yossi Cohen: The Mossad spy chief who stole Iran's secret nuclear archive"The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
  13. ^ Atwood, Kylie (2 December 2020). "US official says Israel was behind assassination of Iranian scientist"CNN.
  14. ^ Winer, Stuart (2 March 2019). "Malaysian police release photo of suspect in killing of Hamas rocket expert"The Times of Israel.
  15. ^ Khoury, Jack (November 16, 2017). "Hamas: Mossad agents carrying Bosnian passports behind Tunisia drone expert assassination"Haaretz.
  16. ^ "From Mossad overtures to frenetic US diplomacy: How UAE deal reportedly happened"The Times of Israel. 14 August 2018.
  17. ^ Bassist, Rina (August 14, 2020). "Mossad chief likely to continue advancing Israel, UAE contacts"Al-Monitor.
  18. ^ "Sudan intel chief denies meeting Mossad head to talk supplanting nation's leader"The Times of Israel. 2 March 2019.
  19. ^ "What the new boss of Mossad means for Israeli foreign policy"The Economist. 8 December 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  20. ^ "50 Influencers 2019"The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  21. ^ "Key passages from outgoing Mossad chief's unprecedented TV interview"The Times of Israel. 21 June 2021. Archived from the original on 23 June 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  22. ^ "Mossad Chief Exposes Vision of Peace, Calls to Act"Al-Monitor. 8 July 2019.
  23. ^ Eichner, Itamar (26 August 2013). "Newly appointed National Security Advisor Cohen's son reveals moving family story"Ynetnews. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  24. ^ "New Mossad chief: Israel needs heavenly help"i24NEWS. December 15, 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yossi Cohen.

Authority control databases

International  ISNI   VIAF

National 

Current Head of Mossad David Barnea - Wikipedia

David Barnea

David "DadiBarnea 2003

David "DadiBarnea (Hebrewדוד (דדי) ברנע; born 29 March 1965) is the current Director of the Mossad, having taken over from Yossi Cohen in June 2021.[1]

Director of Mossad

Incumbent Assumed office 1 June 2021

Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu

Naftali Bennett

Yair Lapid

Benjamin Netanyahu

Preceded by Yossi Cohen

Personal details

Born 29 March 1965 (age 58) Ashkelon, Israel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Barnea 

The Early Life of David "Dadi" Barnea

Barnea was born in Ashkelon and grew up in Rishon Lezion. His father, Joseph Brunner (Barnea), fled with his family from Nazi Germany and immigrated to Israel at the age of three. Joseph was a graduate of the Hapoel HaMizrachi Yeshiva in Bnei Brak and joined the Palmach at the age of 16. He fought with the Third Battalion of the organization in Nabi Yusha and Safed and then served as an officer with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Israeli Air Force. He was also a manager at Tadiran. His mother, Naomi, was born on board the SS Patria and worked as a teacher and school principal.[2]

Barnea studied at the Military Boarding School for Command in Tel Aviv,⁣[3] and enlisted in the IDF in 1983. He did his military service with the General Staff Reconnaissance Regiment (Sayeret Matkal). He later studied in the United States, obtaining a Bachelor's degree from the New York Institute of Technology and an MBA from Pace University. He then worked as a business manager at an investment bank in Israel.[4]

David "DadiBarnea (Hebrewדוד (דדי) ברנע; born 29 March 1965) is the current Director of the Mossad, having taken over from Yossi Cohen in June 2021.[1]

Career of David "DadiBarnea 

In 1996, Barnea joined the Mossad. He served in the Tzomet Division, commanding operational units in Israel and abroad. For two and a half years, he served as deputy head of the Keshet Division, which is tasked with infiltrating and monitoring targets. In 2013, he was appointed head of the Tzomet Division.[5] While Barnea ran Tsomet, four awards for Israeli national security were presented to the division. In 2019, he was appointed deputy head of the Mossad. In June 2021, he was appointed head of the Mossad.

After the beginning of the war between 2023 Hamas and Israel, Barnea pushed for a deal with Hamas to secure the release of Israeli hostages. On November 9th, Barnea met with CIA Director William J. Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in Doha. The possibilities of a ceasefire and the release of hostages were discussed. In addition to CIA chief Burns, Barnea was also included in the talks between US President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu about the release of hostages.[6] Barnea prevailed against Netanyahu, who is said to have long preferred a purely military solution.[7]

Personal Life of David "Dadi" Barnea 

Barnea is married and is a father of four. He has a Haredi brother.[8]

References on David "Dadi" Barnea

  1. ^ "Barnea takes over Mossad"The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  2. ^ אייכנר, איתמר (24 May 2021). ""ישר, מחוספס וצנוע": הכירו את ראש המוסד הבא"Ynet (in Hebrew).
  3. ^ "דוד ברנע • עמותת בוגרי הפנימיות הצבאיות בחיפה ובתל אביב וידידיהן"עמותת בוגרי הפנימיות הצבאיות בחיפה ובתל אביב וידידיהן.
  4. ^ "הותר לפרסום: דוד ברנע הוא ראש המוסד החדש"www.maariv.co.il. 24 May 2021.
  5. ^ @yossi_melman (May 24, 2021). "דוד (דדי) ברנע בשנות ה-50 לחייו הוא תושב ישוב בשרון ושרת כ-30 שנים במוסד" (Tweet) (in Hebrew) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ "Nahost-Krieg: Wie der Geisel-Deal zustande kam"tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  7. ^ "Mossad-Chef Barnea: Der Mann hinter dem Hamas-Deal gilt als Netanjahu-Gegner"www.fr.de (in German). 2023-11-25. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  8. ^ "'Everything went silent': Mossad chief's Haredi brother recalls deadly Meron crush"Times of Israel. 27 December 2021.

Mossad-Chef David Barnea gilt als Netanjahu-Gegner

David Barnea (r.) bei einem Treffen mit Benjamin Netanjahu (l.) im Januar 2023.

David Barnea (r.) bei einem Treffen mit Benjamin Netanjahu (l.) im Januar 2023. © IMAGO/Koby Gideon/Israel Gpo

https://www.fr.de/politik/israel-hamas-mossad-chef-david-barnea-hamas-deal-netanjahu-gegner-justizreform-zr-92695048.html 

Seit 2021 ist David Barnea Direktor des Mossad. Der Leiter des mächtigen Geheimdiensts Israels begehrte in der Vergangenheit gegen die Pläne Netanjahus auf.

Tel Aviv – Als am 7. Oktober die Hamas in Israel einfiel und ihre terroristischen Anschläge verübte, stand auch der israelische Geheimdienst Mossad schnell im Mittelpunkt. Die sonst so gut informierte Institution wurde von dem Beginn des Krieges in Israel kalt erwischt und stand und steht dementsprechend in der Kritik. Nichtsdestoweniger kam Mossad-Chef David Barnea beim Deal mit der Hamas zur Freilassung der Geißeln eine wichtige Rolle zu.

Mossad-Direktor Barnea schon vor Gaza-Krieg kritisch gegenüber Netanjahu

Dass der Mossad auf die Anschläge der Hamas unvorbereitet war, hat nicht zu einem besseren Verhältnis zwischen Israels Ministerpräsidenten Benjamin Netanjahu und dem Direktor des Mossad, David Barnea, beigetragen. Doch es war wohl ohnehin schon seit längerem nicht von uneingeschränkten gegenseitigen Wohlwollen geprägt. Zumindest Barnea gilt keineswegs als Freund des eingeschlagenen Kurses Netanjahus in der Innenpolitik.

Im Zuge der Massenproteste gegen die umstrittene Justizreform soll David Barnea Treffen mit Mossad-Leuten einberufen haben, in denen er sich gegen die Reform ausgesprochen haben soll. Israelische Medien berichteten von zwei ihnen bekannten Sitzungen, in denen Barnea seinen Mitarbeitenden im Hinblick auf etwaige Folgen der Justizreform versicherte: Wenn es zu einer Verfassungskrise kommt, werde ich auf der richtigen Seite der Geschichte stehen – aber so weit sind wir noch nicht.“

Barnea gilt als Liberaler und steht damit der teils aus rechtsnationalen Parteien bestehenden Regierungskoalition wohl kritisch gegenüber. Den Angehörigen des Mossad, abgesehen von den Führungspersonen, stellte er frei, sich an den Protesten gegen die Justizreform zu beteiligen. Kernkritikpunkt an der Reform ist eine Schwächung des Obersten Gerichtshofs und damit eine Stärkung des Parlaments. Kritiker sehen die Gewaltenteilung im israelischen Staat in Gefahr.

 

Zvi Zamir

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zvi_Zamir

Zvi Zamir  צבי זמיר

 Zvi Zamir in 2004

 Zvi Zamir in 1979

 Zvi Zamir in 1960

Born Zvicka Zarzevsky

3 March 1925 ŁódźPoland

Died 2 January 2024 (aged 98) Tel Aviv, Israel

Nationality Israeli

Occupation Director of Mossad

Espionage activity

Allegiance  State of Israel

Service branch Palmach  Israel Defense Forces  Mossad

Service years 

Palmach: 1942–1948

IDF: 1948–1968 

Mossad: 1968–1974

Rank Major general

Zvi Zamir (Hebrewצבי זמיר; born Zvicka Zarzevsky; 3 March 1925 – 2 January 2024) was a major general in the Israel Defense Forces and the director of the Mossad from 1968 to 1974.

Early Life of  Zvicka Zarzevsky

Born in Poland on 3 March 1925,[1][2] Zamir immigrated with his family to the then British Mandate of Palestine when only seven months old. At the age of 18, Zamir began his military career, first as a soldier in the Haganah's Palmach, a unit that included future Israeli leaders such as Moshe Dayan and Yitzhak Rabin.

Intelligence career

IDF posts

During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Zamir fought in the newly created Israel Defense Forces as an infantry platoon leader. After the war he continued climbing the chain of command, becoming a licensed reconnaissance pilot for the Artillery branch, and was eventually promoted to the commander of the Southern Command. His final IDF post before being appointed Mossad director came in 1966, when he was appointed the military attaché to London.

Mossad

During his tenure at the Mossad, he helped carry out an assassination campaign, the Israeli response to the Munich Massacre, and dealt with the lead up and aftermath of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. After the West German government refused to accept an Israeli special forces team during the Munich hostage crisis, Zamir was sent to observe activities. He was at the Fürstenfeldbruck airbase the night that the failed rescue attempt left all nine remaining Israeli hostages dead. Zamir was interviewed about the incident in 1999 when he spoke with the producer of One Day in September, a documentary on the massacre. In it he strongly criticized the German rescue effort for its complete lack of coordination. He had previously been interviewed on this subject for an NBC profile during their coverage of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and he discussed the massacre several times thereafter.

Later life of  Zvicka Zarzevsky

Zamir was played by Ami Weinberg in Steven Spielberg's 2005 movie Munich.

His memoirs were published in Hebrew in 2011 under the title With Open Eyes (Be'einaim Pekuhot, בעיניים פקוחות‎).[3]

Zamir lived in Zahala, a neighborhood in the north of Tel Aviv. He died on 2 January 2024, at the age of 98.[4]

References

  1. ^ Profile of Zvi Zamir
  2. ^ "צבי זמיר". Archived from the original on 14 November 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  3. ^ Bar-Joseph, Uri; McDermott, Rose (3 March 2017). Intelligence Success and Failure: The Human Factor. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-934175-7.
  4. ^ Zvi Zamir, Mossad director during Yom Kippur War, dies at 98

Further reading

  • "Preventive measures" Zamir interview in 2006.
  • One Day in September, (1999), a documentary by Kevin Macdonald.
  • Raviv, Dan and Melman, Yossi. Every Spy a Prince: The Complete History of Israel's Intelligence Community. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1990. ISBN 0-395-47102-8 p. 179

External links

Yitzhak Hofi

Yitzhak Hofi (Hebrewיצחק חופי‎; 25 January 1927 – 15 September 2014) was a member of the PalmachIDF General, chief of the Northern Command (Israel), and director of the Mossad.[1]

Life of  Yitzhak Hofi

Hofi was born in Tel Aviv. He joined the Haganah in 1944 and commanded a company in the Arab-Israeli War in 1948. He continued to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces in a variety of command, staff and training posts. He headed the Northern Command of the IDF during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. He was Acting Chief of Staff for a brief period in 1974, before retiring from the military and taking the post of director of Mossad. Before that he was a general in the Israeli Defense Forces in charge of the Northern Command.[2]

In July 1976, Hofi lobbied strongly for a rescue mission to be mounted to save the large number of Israeli passengers on a hijacked Air France airliner flown to Entebbe International Airport in Uganda. In order to facilitate the resulting Operation Entebbe, Hofi directed Mossad katsas to survey the airport, and used contacts in Kenyan intelligence to allow the refueling of Israeli planes in Nairobi on the return journey.[citation needed]

During his tenure as Director of the Mossad, Israel carried out Operation Opera, a surprise Israeli attack on Iraq's nuclear reactor in Osirak.[3] In addition, the Mossad under his command assassinated a number of Palestinian terrorists, including Ali Hassan Salameh, chief of operations for the Black September Organization.[4]

After retiring from the Mossad in 1982, Hofi served as director of the Israel Electric Corporation until 1990.[5]

He died on 15 September 2014.[5][3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Makovsky, David; Olivia, Holt-Ivry (23 May 2012). "Command and Control"Foreign PolicyArchived from the original on 31 October 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  2. ^ Rabinovich, Abraham (24 September 2014). "Major General Yitzhak Hofi: Soldier whose gloomy assessments helped win the Yom Kippur War and who went on to serve as head of Mossad"The IndependentArchived from the original on 4 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  3. Jump up to:a b Morello, Carol (September 17, 2014). "Yitzhak Hofi, Israeli spy chief who helped in episodes of war and peace, dies at 87"The Washington Post.
  4. ^ Carol, Morello (19 September 2014). "Yitzhak Hofi, 87; Israeli general had key role in Entebbe raid"The Boston Globe.
  5. Jump up to:a b Lappin, Yaakov (September 15, 2014). "Former Mossad director Yitzhak Hofi dies at 87"The Jerusalem Post.

Further reading[edit]

  • Black, Ian. Morris, Benny. Israel's Secret Wars: A History of Israel's Intelligence Services. New York: Grove Press, 1991. ISBN 0-8021-1159-9, 322 p.
  • Central Intelligence Agency. "Israel. Foreign Intelligence and Security Services, 1979". Included in the volume "Documents from the US Espionage Den", Tehran, 1982.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitzhak_Hofi

Heads of Northern Command Israel

Nahum Admoni

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahum_Admoni

Nahum Admoni (age 94)

Born 21st November  1929 (age 94)

Born 21st November  1929 JerusalemMandatory Palestine

Nationality Israeli

Occupation  Director-General of Mossad

Espionage activity

Allegiance   Israel

Service branch Mossad

Service years 1954–1989

Nahum Admoni (Hebrewנחום אדמוני; born November 21, 1929) is an Israeli former intelligence officer who served as the Director-General of the Mossad from 1982 to 1989.

Nahum Admoni (Hebrewנחום אדמוני; born November 21, 1929) is an Israeli former intelligence officer who served as the Director-General of the Mossad from 1982 to 1989.

Admoni was born in Jerusalem in Mandatory Palestine. His parents, Eliyahu and Sima Rothbaum, were middle-class Polish Jewish immigrants. Growing up, he studied at the Rehavia Gymnasium. In 1946, he enlisted in the Haganah and joined the Third Battalion of the Palmach. He fought in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War in the SHAI, the Haganah intelligence branch, and later in the military intelligence of the newly created Israel Defense Forces. He was discharged from the army in 1950 with the rank of Lieutenant. He then went to the United States and studied international relations at the University of California, Berkeley, returning to Israel in 1954. There he rejoined the Israeli intelligence community, working his way up the chain of command to be Mossad Director Yitzhak Hofi's deputy. In 1982 the designated director of the Mossad Yekutiel Adam was killed in 1982 Lebanon War and Admoni was chosen to replace him.

Shortly after becoming the Mossad Director the Sabra and Shatila massacre occurred. Admoni was criticized by the Kahan Commission for not warning the cabinet before allowing the Gemayel Phalangists into the camps, though no action against him was recommended. During his service as Mossad Director, Admoni watched over the Jonathan Pollard affair, in which it was revealed that Israel (though not the Mossad directly) was spying on the United States. He also endured the revelation of Israeli involvement in the Iran–Contra Affair and the public abduction of Mordechai Vanunu, who had revealed secrets of the Israeli nuclear weapons program to the British press. Admoni retired in 1989.

On August 28, 2006, he was appointed by prime minister Ehud Olmert to be chairman of an investigation committee, charged with investigating the actions of the government during the 2006 Lebanon War.[1]

He is married to Nina Admoni (née Wertans), who was born in Poland, and was among the Jews who fled to China during World War II. She later moved to the United States, and met Nahum while he was studying in Berkeley. The couple married (they have two daughters Yael Lynne and Irit ) and moved to Israel when he returned there.[2] He has served on the board of directors of several companies, including Mossad's pensioners association.

Notes

References

  • Black, Ian. Morris, Benny. Israel's Secret Wars: A History of Israel's Intelligence Services. New York: Grove Press, 1991. ISBN 0-8021-1159-9, 427 p.
  • Shabtai Shavit