The Mossad, officially known as the Secret Intelligence Service of Israel, is one of the secret services of Israel, along with Aman and the Shin Bet. It was established on December 13, 1949 upon recommendation of Raven Shiloah, an adviser of Ben Gurion, as a coordination agency, which purpose was to coordinate the activities of military intelligence, of the security services of Israel and of the Political Department of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Mossad’s efforts have focused on such countries as Holland, Belgium, North Africa, Czechoslovakia and Germany. Their main task was monitoring the activities of the Arab states in Europe, over their acquisition of weapons and over their relations with the countries of Europe.
Since its establishment, the Mossad had a number of successful operations, among which the following took place: the capture of Adolf Eichmann, one of Nazi organizers of Holocaust, in 1960, "Operation Wrath of God" after the Munich massacre in 1972, the capture of Mordechai Vanunu, who notified the whole world of the Israeli nuclear programme, in 1986, "Operation Opera" in 1981 to receive information on the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq, the destroying of Abu Jihad, the head of military wing of HAMAS in Tunis in 1988. One of the differences between the Mossad intelligence and those of other countries is the small number of its participants – only slightly more than 1,200 full-time employees, including technicians, are working here. However, the quality of its work remains out of reach for many other world military organizations, including those of other states.
Works cited
Kahana, Ephraim. Historical dictionary of Israeli intelligence. Oxford: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2006. Print.
