Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., May 02, 2008 Nisan 27, 5768 | | Israel Time: 00:04 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Amateur hour By Amir Oren Tags: Ben-Ami Kadish  Meir Amit turned 87 last month; he is older even than Ben-Ami Kadish. As a major general at the age of 35, Amit (formerly Slutzky) was the chief architect of the Sinai Campaign and impressed the chief of staff, Moshe Dayan, who tried unsuccessfully to persuade David Ben-Gurion to appoint Amit as his successor. In the 1960s he moved into intelligence and became the only person in Israel, to date, to head both Military Intelligence (MI) and the Mossad espionage agency. This was the intelligence community's period of glory, ahead of the zenith of the Six-Day War, thanks in large measure to Amit's good relations with Major General Aharon Yariv, his successor as head of MI. Three years ago, Amit wrote in staccato-short sentences his harsh opinion of the Defense Ministry's Science Liaison Bureau (Lakam in the Hebrew acronym). His remarks were made in two letters to his friend Eliyahu Sacharov, a key activist in security procurements and in Israel Military Industries on the eve of the state's establishment and afterward. "We have more or less the same opinion" about Lakam, Amit wrote. "I have no doubt that this entity was established not out of concern for the subject but from an egoistic point of view. Regrettably, much damage has been caused - see under: Pollard." In a previous letter, Amit had mentioned the first director of Lakam, Binyamin Blumberg. "We were friends and neighbors - he in Givat Zaid, I in Kibbutz Alonim. I am not referring to Binyamin the person, for whom I had high regard. I am referring to the creation of a parallel Mossad, which had neither the means nor the experience of the first Mossad. I always thought that the additional body was unnecessary and harmful." At this point Amit typed another line, which in rereading he preferred to cross out, but in a way that left it still legible: "But Arik Sharon, as defense minister, wanted a private Mossad of his own." Advertisement Intelligence is too serious a matter to be left to intelligence personnel. Above the professionals there has to be a decision-making echelon that factors in security, foreign relations and human life. And it is criminal negligence to close one's eyes when amateur behavior runs rampant. Lakam's espionage in the United States was in essence a home movie. Most of the spies were motivated by love of Zion; their handlers were rank amateurs in this sphere. The Lakam emissaries were posted to Washington, New York and other representations, under the guise of scientific liaisons. Their training was generally in industry, engineering or technology. They did not come from the "Humint" realm - the use of human beings to collect intelligence, in which agent management is also risk management. That field grew in Israel, with mutual nourishment, in the three main branches of intelligence: the Shin Bet security service, the Mossad and MI. Police intelligence operates in a like manner. The coordinator, handler or collection officer needs acquired proficiency, which stems in part from an acquaintance with the human mind, but which is also liable to twist the mind. Years of recruiting moles, using incentives and threats, tend to fashion a tough, utilitarian worldview: Every person has his price, you only have to set it. What's true of a person is also true of a nation, and what's true in security holds for business, too. This perverse view is a serious professional hazard, dragging in its wake political and criminal debacles, but it has one positive aspect: The handlers understand that inherent in the same traits that brought the spies to them is the danger of their exposure. Anyone who offered his services out of greed for money will find it difficult to lead an ascetic life. In the end his avarice and profligacy will give him away. In the 1970s, the CIA psychiatrist Jerrold Post, who led the team that analyzed for president Jimmy Carter the radically different personalities of president Anwar Sadat and prime minister Menachem Begin ahead of the Camp David meeting in 1977, circulated a short article within the CIA, entitled "Anatomy of Treason," as a means to help select potential recruits. The task, Post wrote, is to select from among the dozens of Soviet representatives in a third country those whom it is worthwhile trying to lure. There is no point going after those who seem to be satisfied with their personal and professional lives, he noted. The quarry is best hunted in the field of divided loyalty, among the embittered and those who are unfaithful to their partners, or among those between the ages of 35 and 45, who are clearly suffering from the disappointments of a midlife crisis, or among offspring of parents who suffered at the hands of the regime (or offspring who rebel against their establishment parents). The presence of two or more of these traits should produce the perfect candidate. It's instructive to read the training literature of the KGB for making contact with agents and eluding surveillance. The point of departure, of course, is that the host state snoops, photographs and eavesdrops. Scientific liaison, minister for agricultural affairs, adviser for culture and the arts - there is no single cover. There is constant concern that an agent will be uncovered, as a result of which the spotlight will be trained on his handler, and the survey of his connections will turn up more agents. This, apparently, is what happened to Yossi Yagur: The trail from Pollard led to him and from him to Kadish, who is not necessarily the end of the story. The crash was caused by the interconnection between the ego of a problematic agent like Pollard, and the ego of self-styled spy masters, who felt frustrated by the preference they saw being given to colorless officials over them. At the beginning of the 1980s, the competition between the intelligence branches intermingled with the bad blood between the commanders of the IDF Paratroops in the 1950s. Yitzhak Hofi, who became Mossad head in 1974, had been the deputy of brigade commander Ariel Sharon during the Sinai Campaign, and Rafael Eitan, who would serve as IDF chief of staff 1978-1983, commanded the 890th Battalion. Tale of two Eitans Senior Mossad personnel coveted Hofi's job, but his term was extended repeatedly, for a total of eight years. At one point, Eitan, who was already chief of staff, intervened, although he should have had nothing to do with it, and angered Hofi by recommending David Kimche as next Mossad chief. Kimche moved to a waiting position as director general of the Foreign Ministry under Yitzhak Shamir. Sharon wanted Rafi Eitan (today the head of the Pensioners Party, not to be confused with the chief of staff, nicknamed Raful) for the post, and when his lobbying didn't help, and maybe even hurt, he finagled a way for him to assume the top post at Lakam, in place of Blumberg. Rafi Eitan liked to boast to MI officers about material he had received from Pollard. Nahum Admoni, who by then was head of the Mossad (he served in the post 1982-89), obeyed the directive not to run spies in America, but did not go out of his way to prevent Lakam from doing so. When Pollard appeared with his wares for the first time, with no advance warning, at the door of American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) staff member Lenny Davis, Davis was appalled and helped see him out by shoving him in the chest. Davis (later Lenny Ben-David, deputy chief of mission in the Israeli Embassy in Washington) grasped instinctively what Rafi Eitan and the cabinet ministers above him preferred to sweep away. Then came two commissions of inquiry - one set up by the government, with the participation of the Mossad's external lawyer, Yehoshua Rotenstreich, and a former chief of staff, Zvi Zur, the second by the Knesset - and added another layer to the official lies. A member of the Knesset commission, Ehud Olmert, lambasted the press for revealing the connection between Lakam and Pollard, and Shimon Peres for "speaking untruth" to the U.S. administration. Efraim Halevy, when he was Mossad head (1998-2002), tried to instigate an internal struggle, and then a somewhat public one, against "the right of a chief to disavow an intelligence officer following the conclusion of his mission," but during the tenure of his successor, Meir Dagan, the current Mossad chief, the efforts to draft such a "Mossad Law" were suspended. After thorough discussions with the current attorney general, Menachem Mazuz, the Mossad officials concluded that there is no point to legislation that lacks the power to render kosher offenses against the laws of other countries. That, after all, is the nature of espionage, betrayal and assassination. The Lakam affair sounds like another story that has been taken out of the freezer and heated up for serving as part of the country's 60th-anniversary celebrations, starring characters in their ninth decade of life - Rafi Eitan, Kadish, Amit. In fact, it is a very contemporary story: There is no guarantee that the amateurism has been eradicated. The last attempt to impose order on the chaos was recorded a decade ago, ahead of the creation of the National Security Council. The draft document drawn up by the designated head of the council, Major General (res.) David Ivry, with the aid of Defense Ministry official Kuti Mor, posited the "head of the headquarters for national security as chairman of the committee of heads of the [secret] services" - meaning the official who would guide the heads of the Mossad, Shin Bet and MI, determine priorities and the division of labor, and prevent "wild weeds" like Lakam from cropping up again. Okay, so they wrote a draft. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Hamas on the Holocaust Al-Aqsa TV claims Jews concocted the Holocaust. Grasping genocide How a non-Jew in Israel came to understand the Holocaust.   1.   Interesting background 18:20  |  Natallie Durson 25/04/08

Read & React IDF chief: We take calls for Israel's destruction seriously Responses: 142 Israel Harel: Jewish guilt over Gaza deaths weakens us in fight for Israel's existence Responses: 151 Hamas TV: 'Satanic Jews' planned, perpetrated Holocaust Responses: 124 Palestinians: IDF kills 62-year-old Gazan; 9 Qassams hit Negev Responses: 64 Mofaz, at Yale: Iran could have nuke bomb technology this year Responses: 31 More Headlines 22:21 Police summon PM for urgent questioning under caution 20:24 IDF chief at Auschwitz: We take calls for Israel's destruction seriously 17:34 Hamas TV claims 'Satanic Jews' planned, perpetrated Holocaust 22:56 Yellow patch, Blue victory: U.K. media praise Grant after Chelsea win 21:12 Ma'aleh Adumim mayor: I got impression that gov't plans to divide J'lem 23:33 Leftist group: Police barring us from monitoring Hebron settlers 12:03 Son gets Dad's Auschwitz tattoo on own arm 20:07 Top U.S. official: America would look favorably on PA request for additional funding 16:36 South Africa withdraws request to host 'Durban 2' conference 16:27 Palestinians: IDF kills 62-year-old Gazan; 9 Qassams hit Negev 17:53 Condoleezza Rice returns to the Mideast on Saturday 19:23 Two children and one senior citizen die in separate car accidents 21:58 Erekat: Abbas 'doing very, very well' after heart procedure Previous Editions Select Day 01 may 30 apr 29 apr 28 apr 27 apr 25 apr 24 apr 23 apr 22 apr 21 apr 20 apr 18 apr

Special Offers Advertisement Pardes Institute Summer Sessions http://www.pardes.org.il/ FAREWELL ISRAEL New Film The Coming War for Islamic Revival - View Movie Trailer The interest rates haven't changed But your profits will! Learn Hebrew online with Israel's best teachers Sign up for a trial lesson today Free the Palestinians from: Corrupt Kleptocracy, Tyrannical Theocracy, Abysmal Anarchy Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Real Estate in Israel

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved