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Espinosa-Robles, Raissa. “Lone Fighter.” Asiaweek, in 1988 assassinated top PLO leader Abu Jihad, a
November 30, 2001, 28. cofounder of Yasir Arafat’s Fatah movement.
Majul, Cesar Adib. Muslims in the Philippines. Quezon Although in Mossad’s first few decades its agents
City: University of the Philippines Press, 1999. were often said to be the best spies in the world,
Steinberg, David Joel. The Philippines: A Singular and Mossad made repeated blunders in the late 1990s.
Plural Place. 4th ed. Boulder, CO: Westview, 2000. While headlines compared the agency to the
Weymouth, Lally. “Terrorist Cells All Over.” Newsweek, Keystone Kops, high-ranking Mossad officials
February 11, 2002, 36.
resigned. In 1997 in Amman, Jordan, Mossad agents
tried to assassinate Hamas member Khaled Meshal
with a poison injection in broad daylight. They aimed
MOSSAD poorly and were arrested after a foiled attempt at
flight. The captured agents were later exchanged for
prominent Islamic leaders held by Israel. Further
Mossad Merkazi Le-modiin U-letafkidim Meyu- problems ensued when a routine wiretap was discov-
hadim is Hebrew for Central Institute for Intelligence ered in Bern, Switzerland. Another Mossad agent was
and Security. As members of Israel’s secret foreign put on trial for fabricating information that nearly led
intelligence service, Mossad agents have hunted
to a declaration of war between Israel and Syria. In
down Nazi war criminals and coordinated countless
1998, two agents were caught in Cyprus with surveil-
sophisticated assassination attacks on Arab guerrilla
lance tapes and charged with spying. As the number
leaders.
of mistakes rose, the agency’s head, Danny Yatom,
Mossad was founded in 1951 by Isser Harel, who
was forced to resign and British-born Ephraim
served as director of the organization until 1963. It is
Halavy, who was previously Israel’s diplomatic
complemented by the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal intel-
envoy to the European Union, was appointed as his
ligence service. Israel’s government describes Mossad
replacement.
and Shin Bet assassinations of leaders of groups such
In summer 2000, Mossad advertised for new
as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as counterter-
recruits in Israel’s newspapers for the first time, ask-
rorism, while Arab leaders have accused the agency of
ing qualified applicants to fax resumes and identifica-
“state terrorism.”
tion numbers. This advertising campaign provoked
Mossad made its reputation as a fierce spy corps
much surprised discussion in the press, as Mossad is
with the May 11, 1960, kidnapping of Nazi war
so secretive that it had never released a telephone
criminal Adolf Eichmann from his home in Buenos
number. It still does not have a Web site and it never
Aires, Argentina. Eichmann was brought to Israel
provides press releases.
to stand trial and was found guilty of and executed
for crimes against humanity. In 1976, Mossad agents
also staged an impressive rescue of hostages aboard See also AL FATAH; COUNTERTERRORISM; HAMAS; MUNICH
an Israeli airliner that had been hijacked to Entebbe, OLYMPICS MASSACRE; PALESTINE LIBERATION
ORGANIZATION
Uganda.
In the early part of the decade, however, agents bun-
gled the planned assassination of the alleged organizer Further Reading
of the murders of the Israeli team at the 1972 Munich
Olympics, mistakenly attacking an Arab waiter in Black, Ian, and Benny Morris. Israel’s Secret Wars, the
Norway. In 1986, Mossad agents carried out another Untold History of Israeli Intelligence. London: Hamish
Hamilton, 1991.
famous mission, as a blonde agent identified only as
Melman, Yossi. Every Spy a Prince: The Complete History
“Cindy” brought nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu
of Israel’s Intelligence Community. New York: Houghton
from London to Italy on a holiday. Vanunu, an Israeli
Mifflin, 1990.
citizen, was then drugged and taken to Israel to be tried
Ostrovsky, Victor, and Claire Hoy. By Way of Deception:
for leaking Israeli nuclear secrets to the British press. A Devastating Insider’s Portrait of Mossad. New York:
He was sentenced to 18 years in prison. St. Martin’s, 1990.
Mossad agents often targeted Palestine Liberation Thomas, Gordon. Gideon’s Spies: The Secret History of the
Organization (PLO) members during the 1980s, and Mossad. Updated ed. New York: St. Martin’s, 2000.