Mossad – The Story of Israel’s Greatest Weapon

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On 27 November 2020, a high-profile assassination took place in the Iranian capital of Tehran. Top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated through a well-planned operation in which neither the killer nor the means were properly identified. The much controversial assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh occurred right under the nose of Iran’s top elite security officers of the revolutionary guard and was a blow to Iranian government. The government as well as many intelligence experts openly blamed Israel and its much revered and feared intelligence agency Mossad for the attack. Even though the Mossad or Israeli government at first did not respond to the acquisitions, it is not the first time a nuclear scientist from Iran is being assassinated and Mossad being suspected. The death of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh has been reported in various ambiguous ways.The story of an intense fight between the killers and the security team was published at first. Later, claims of the use of a satellite-controlled weapon began to surface in local media, backed up by the Revolutionary Guard.This claim gained international attention ever since journalists Ronen Bergman and Farnaz Fasihi published a report in The New York Times on September 19, 2021, about the "AI assisted remote control killing machine" used by Mossad to assassinate Fakhrizadeh. The report said that Mossad had installed a special model of a Belgian made F N MAG machine gun attached to advanced robotic apparatus in the Nissan Pickup from which the killing shorts were fired at Fakhrizadeh seconds before the vehicle itself exploded even without having any killers or Mossad agents within 1000 miles of the incident. According to the New York Times, their report is based on interviews with American, Israeli, and Iranian officials.Even after such an assassination had taken place, Iran is unsuccessful in providing a detailed and acceptable explanation about it.This is just the latest in a series of sophisticated and well-planned assassinations and other operations carried out by Mossad around the world. Mossad is doing exceptionally well for an intelligence agency of a country founded only in the twentieth century, sitting firmly and comfortably among the top five in any list of the world's best intelligence agencies. Mossad could be regarded as an intelligence agency capable of conducting any complicated or nearly impossible missions anywhere in the world with acute precision. Rumors of Mossad being the primary advisor to the heads of governments of India and America is still in air. The Mossad, Israel’s storied espionage agency, is the envy of the world. Over more than seven decades, it has built a reputation for highly efficient spying, impressive analytic capabilities and, when ordered, lethality. This makes it an interesting institute to look into.

From Pre State Intelligence Gathering to Mossad

Mossad or ‘HaMossad leModiʿin uleTafkidim Meyuḥadim’ (institute for intelligence and special operations) is one among the three major entities of the Israeli intelligence community along with Shin Bet (internal security) and Amaan (military intelligence). It was formally established in December 1949 as a result of a meeting between the Israeli Prime Minister David BenGurion, and two pre-state agents of jewish paramilitary Ruven Shiloah and Isser Harel. Ruven Shiloah became the first director of Mossad. Even before the state of Israel was formally established in 1948, the Jews had created many underground intelligence organizations to gain information about their neighboring enemies. Haganah, one among the Jewish paramilitary forces in Palestine during the British mandate period and its information wing Sherut Yediot is considered as the predecessors of Mossad. In 1947, right after the Palestine partition resolution by the United Nations, 4 Jewish men with Arabic origin were sent to the neighboring Arab states of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon for intelligence gathering. Being born in Arabia it was easier for them to pretend as Arabs and gather information useful for the Jews. They were called Mista’arvim. Matti Friedman in his book “SPIES OF NO COUNTRY: THE SECRET LIVES AT THE BIRTH OF ISRAEL '' explains the importance these men have played in laying a clear foundation for the formation of Mossad. After the formation of the State, the realization of the need for an organized institute for intelligence service for collecting both international and domestic information led to the formal establishment of Mossad (external intelligence), Shin bet (domestic intelligence) and Amaan (military intelligence). Mossad became one of the best intelligence agencies in the world thanks to many inter and intra organisational measures such as the formation of multiple units within itself, an inter service coordination committee, and the directorship of Isser Harel.

The Mossad’s activity and objectives are determined by and in accordance with Israel’s Prime Minister, government, and the State of Israel’s Laws. It is only accountable directly to the prime minister himself. Mossad claims to have four primary motives in any activities they perform. First, to bring to justice those who have harmed Jewish people. Secondly, to neutralize any military threat to the state of Israel. Thirdly, to retaliate against perpetrators of terror and finally to help Jewish refugees around the world to reach Israel. Mossad mainly engages in intelligence gathering through its unit called Tzomet or collection which conducts espionage overseas. It includes both diplomatic intelligence relations as well as covert relations with countries that does not have any formal relation with Israel. Other than intelligence collection, Mossad is also involved in special operations and activities through the working of units like teval (political action and liaison department), research department, technology department, Lohama psichologit (psychological warfare department) and Caesarea or metsada (special operations department). Within ceasarea, there is a very controversial and well-known unit named Kidon which is considered as the elite group of expert assassins who executes the assassination operations of Mossad. There are many factors that ensured the transformation of Mossad into what it is today. The role of its skilled and capable spies who are trained to withstand and work under any dire circumstances is undeniable. Spies like Eli Cohen, Rafi Eitan and Wolfgang Lotz became the greatest asset for Israeli operations abroad. The capture of Adolf Eichmann is widely regarded as Mossad's first major overseas operation.

Operation Eichmann and the Popularity of Mossad

Adolf Eichmann was a German Nazi soldier considered as one among the architects of the holocaust and the “Final Solution” of Hitler. After the defeat of Germany in the second world war, Eichmann wound up in an American detention camp in Germany where he pretended to be a low-level soldier named Otto Eckmann. Somehow, he managed to slip out and fled to Buenos Aires in 1950 under the alias Ricardo Klement where he lived a quiet middle-class life until 1960 with his wife and children. Lothar Hermann, a Jewish survivor from Nazi Germany who lived in the same neighborhood identified him and notified Mossad regarding the whereabouts of Adolf Eichmann. After sending multiple agents to confirm the information, Israel sent out a team led by agent Rafi Eitan composed of Mossad as well Shin Bet agents for the capture of Eichmann. On 11th May 1960, on his way back from work, Eichmann was swamped and captured by the team and was taken to a safehouse from where he was later smuggled to Israel disguised as a flight attendant. This smuggling, when it became public, was deeply condemned by the United Nation, Britain, Soviet Union, China and France for breaching the sovereignty of Argentina. A demand for conducting his trial in an international tribunal was also raised. But Israel found it to be their “historical duty towards the six million Jews killed”. This high-risk capture, trial and later the execution of Eichmann became a major incident that increased the popularity of Mossad among the public in Israel as well as internationally. Another landmark factor in increasing the popularity of Mossad was through its dedicated and famous spy Eli Cohen who represented the capability of Israel to gather intelligence even from enemy countries.

Eli Cohen: The tale of Mossad's Most Iconic Agent: Super-Spy Agent 88.

The name Eli Cohen and the tale of his bravery are well-known in Israeli popular culture. Eli Cohen was sent to Syria as a Mossad spy under the guise of a Syrian businessman named Kemal Amin Ta’abit. Eli Cohen’s linguistic capability and photo memory along with detailed training in South America made him the perfect man for espionage. Between 1961 and 1965 Cohen passed Syrian secrets to the Israeli government in what is remembered as one of the most daring and productive intelligence-gathering operations in Israeli history. After mastering Syrian dialect and preparing a cover story, Cohen left Israel to spend time in Argentina among the Syrian community there. With relations formed in Argentina, he went to Damascus through Lebanon in January 1962 pretending to be a Syrian businessman. Eli Cohen’s first mission in Syria was to find the whereabouts of a Nazi criminal Alois Brunner. However, before Cohen could locate him Brunner had moved to Egypt. Eli Cohen’s presence among Syrian elites was a major advantage for Israel to gain information that would enable them to form better strategies accordingly. Thus, Mossad asked Cohen to focus on three major things. Firstly, to gain information on any military movements in Syria. Secondly, to report back any rumors he hears about the political, social or economic situation of the country and finally to learn about the condition of the Syrian economy through his well-established relation with Haitham Qutub, an employee in Syrian Central Bank. Eli Cohen reported every small detail and information he gathered to Israel. An important piece of information Cohen provided was regarding Syria’s plan to divert the course of the Jordan river to restrict its flow to Tiberias under Israeli control. With Cohen’s accurate information, Israel was able to blow up this secret plan. After spending around three years in Damascus disguised as a business man and providing crucial information to Mossad about Syria, Eli Cohen was captured by Syrian intelligence forces in January 1965 after locating his transmission to Israel, and he was publicly executed on May 18, 1965 in Syria, despite intense international pressure in the form of threats and benefits. Even his remains were not handed over to Israel, and no one knows where Syria retained them. Regardless of the fact that Mossad has not publicly spoken about Eli Cohen's missions, he is regarded as a super spy who bravely sacrificed his life for the country. Many Streets, neighborhoods and monuments in Israel are named after him.

The narrative of Eli Cohen is just one example of the vast and effective spy network that Mossad maintains in both hostile and friendly countries to Israel.The crucial victory of Israel in The Six Day War against the Arab coalition of Syria, Jordan and Egypt in 1967 is deeply credited to the intelligence gathered by Mossad through Eli Cohen, Wolfgang Lotz and operation diamond which enabled the Israeli force to successfully condu ct an aerial battle over Golan Heights that turned the cards in favor of Israel.

Mossad Operations Over the Years

Mossad has carried out a number of covert and overt operations, missions, and assassinations over the years, the majority of which have been quite successful. Some of these operations, such as Operation Diamond (1963-1966), Operation Wrath of God (1972), Entebbe raid (1976), and Operation Mosses (1984-1985), are regarded as Mossad's greatest successes and serve as a testament to its power and capability. Other major missions of Mossad includes the assassination of Gerald Bull, Mahmoud al Mabhouh, Mohsen Fakhri Zadeh, Operation Opera and the smuggling of Iranian nuclear archives.

Even with these long histories of success, Mossad has its flaws. Mossad failed to foresee the surprise attack launched by Egypt and Syria on Israel in 1973. Even though Israel won the Yom Kippur war, it caused much loss to the country. Mossad was also accused of human right breaches and harassment in Palestine occupations and its camps.In addition, during Operation Wrath of God, Mossad killed an innocent man in the Lillehammer affair due to an intelligence failure. Mossad had a strong working relationship with the CIA. The two institutes had frequently collaborated on missions such as stealing Khrushchev's secret speech (1956), Operation Olympic Games (2006), and allegedly the assassination of Iran's military Chief Qassim Soleimani (2020) and nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh (2020). This, too, wavered in the 1980s.The failure of operation Suzannah, the failed assassination attempt of Sheikh Khaled Marshall and the much recent exposure of Mossad spy network in turkey by MIT are among major flows in Mossad operations. Also, many blown up covers of Mossad has caused diplomatic tensions with various countries and Israel.

Nonetheless, Mossad remains one of the world's most elite and effective intelligence agencies. With the ongoing Israel-Iran proxy war and Israel's attempt to prevent Iran from acquiring more nuclear capacity, the importance of the Mossad operation and its espionage is undeniable. Former Mossad director Yossi Cohen's revelation about Mossad operations against Iran confirms this. Mossad’s breaking into Iran’s nuclear archives in Tehran in 2018 and its subsequent assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh by Mossad and Iran’s alleged failed attempt at cyprus assassination as a revenge plot and the current ambuiguity of JCPOA are all escalating into unrest situations in which Mossad will be under great pressure to gather intelligence information and plan operations to keep Iran in check.

However, with the recent Pegasus spyware scandal and its reference to Mossad, the question of Mossad's confidentiality and effective espionage has become undeniably pressing. However, whether Mossad is a primary thread wielder behind Pegasus and the NSO group is a completely different discussion, and one that may be revealed in the coming years.

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By Jipsa Fathima Jipsa Fathima is a student of Political Science Hons in Hindu College.