David Kimche, 1928-2010 / A consummate spy turned consummate diplomat

Former top Mossad operative David Kimche, who later became one of Israel's top diplomats, died Monday at the age of 82.

Kimche, the youngest of nine siblings, was born in 1928 to a Zionist family in London. He immigrated to Israel at the age of 18 and shortly afterward fought in the War of Independence.

After the war, he studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and later co-authored a book titled "Both Sides of the Hill" with his brother John. The book, which detailed the war's diplomatic and military developments, was the first of its kind in that it brought the perspective of both sides in an attempt to present a more balanced approach to the conflict.

Kimche joined the Mossad spy agency in the early 1950s, and was in essence one of the organization's founding fathers: He was among those who devised its doctrine and modus operandi. He was involved in just about every aspect of the Mossad over the course of his service, eventually reaching the position of the agency's deputy head.

While serving in the Tsomet department, which is responsible for running agents, he recruited and operated agents who were sent to infiltrate Arab countries.

He also served in the Mossad's Tevel Unit, which liaises with foreign espionage agencies, where he was involved in enhancing cooperation with Mossad's counterparts throughout the world. In the 1960s, the unit sent him to Africa under a cover identity - he presented himself as a journalist - since at this time, the continent was extremely important to Israeli diplomacy.

His Ph.D. thesis, which he completed at Hebrew University in 1969, dealt with the Third World and the Afro-Asian movement.

Kimche also was involved in operations by the Mossad's Bitzur Unit, which is responsible for the security of Jews around the world and for their immigration from Arab states.

Finally, he was one of the founders of the Mossad's research department.

Kimche was a classic intelligence man, similar in style to the characters described by the British author John le Carre in his spy novels. He was soft-spoken, known for his elegant English accent and courteousness, and these qualities sometimes deceived people, as he could be very cunning, determined, and even cruel.

During the 1950s, Kimche was involved in exposing Avri Elad, an Israeli intelligence officer who betrayed his comrades and enabled the Egyptian security services to arrest a network of local Jewish youths working for Israeli intelligence. Two of them were hanged. Kimche was in Germany in 1957, attempting to recruit a German with a Nazi background in order to send him to Egypt to spy for the Mossad, when he learned of Elad's relations with the Egyptian military attache in Germany. This discovery led to Elad being investigated. Eventually, he was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Two decades later, Kimche played a central role in establishing Israel's secret ties with the Christian Phalangists in Lebanon, which laid the groundwork for Israel's military invasion of that country in 1982. Like other Israelis, he was later disappointed by their performance and their betrayal of the connection.

Kimche left the Mossad in 1979, after almost 30 years, due to a quarrel with then Mossad chief Yitzhak Hofi. Shortly after his retirement, foreign minister Yitzhak Shamir, who knew him from their days together in the Mossad, appointed him the ministry's director general.

Kimche was Israel's point man in the Iran-contra affair, in which Washington authorized Israel to sell American weapons to Iran in violation of an international embargo. The sales were an attempt to induce Iranian-backed guerrillas in Lebanon to free American hostages, but some of the proceeds went to fund anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

Kimche left the Foreign Ministry after six years and turned to private business, among other places in Africa and the Persian Gulf. He also continued to serve in various public capacities.

In his last years, Kimche was involved in promoting peace talks with the Palestinians. He was president of the Israel Council of Foreign Relations, and two years ago, he signed a petition supporting talks with the Hamas.

He was married twice, and is survived by his wife and four children. He will be buried at 2 P.M. today in a state ceremony at the Kibbutz Shefayim cemetery. This will be the first funeral held under new rules governing the burial of former senior Mossad officials.