Getting to know the Heads of Mossad

Translator: Davood Salehan
Source: rasekhoon.net







According to presence documents, from the beginning of the establishment of the Mossad until 1952, Reuven Shiloah was the president of the organization. Shiloah at the time of Israel's existence declaring was a senior adviser of David Ben-Gurion, Prime Minister of the regime, and of his old friends in the Haganah militia and intelligence service of Shay.
In 1952, Ben-Gurion appointed Acer Hurley, one of the veterans of the Jewish information community instead of Shiloah to head of the Mossad. Acer Harrell held this position until 1963. In this year Meyer or Mayramit, Harley's successor, became as head of the Mossad. Amit was also dismissed as head of Mossad in 1967 and gave his position to Zuyi Zamir. He remained in this position until 1973, and since this year a man named Hofi was chosen to head of the Mossad. General Hofi remained in that position until the Islamic Revolution and had relation with the head of SAVAK, his Iranian peer.

Reuven Shiloah

«Reuven Shiloah» has been introduced as the first head of Mossad and even its founder, after the establishment of the intelligence service. He was senior adviser of David Ben-Gurion, one of the leaders of the Haganah militia and the first Prime Minister of Israel. Some western writers have illustrated his role in the fate of new-born state of the Israel as a very important and effective role and claim that most of the historic books and sources have forgotten him. Shiloah was considered of the founders of the Jewish terrorist intelligence agency titled Shay in the 1930s. Some sources have attributed him to Iraq’s Jews and wrote that he made a group of Jewish soldiers in World War II and entered in England’s army as a part of it to train a military section for future sate of the Zionism.
According to some CIA agents, the sections which were under the control of Amir Shiloah that were in the path of Jews’ immigration to Palestine were considered as an important station and had a very important role in transfer of Jews to Palestine.
Reuven Shiloah during World War II was linked with Allied intelligence services in Cairo and worked with them to advance some of his operations in occupied Europe.
According to some Western sources, Shiloah saw intelligence issues not only as a method of gathering negative information, but also as a means to create secret links between Israel and other countries. It is said that Shiloah during the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948/1327 had made a secret agreement with Jordan's King, Malek Abdullah, to cooperate with Israel in exchange for concessions. According to this issue, Israeli sources have written that Shiloah played a major role for Israel in one of the secret and not disclosed but important operations.
Shiloah in 1951, after some modifications in the structure of the Israeli intelligence service, was entrusted with the responsibility of Mossad by Prime Minister Ben-Gurion.
Shiloah was dismissed by Ben-Gurion in 1952 and in the fall of 1953, went to Washington with the position of minister of the Israeli embassy. Until this date, he played a very important role in cooperation with the Jewish Agency to transfer Jewish people of some parts of the world to Palestine, especially the countries of Eastern Europe.

Isser Harel

After Shiloah, in 1952 «Isser Harel» was appointed to head of the Mossad who had an important role in both creation of the state of Israel and formation of its intelligence service. It is said that Harel had entered Palestine illegally. After his family’s wealth became national due to Great Revolution of 19177, he changed his socialist views and looks. After entrance to Palestine, he got involved in joint farms named Jews’ Kibbutz and then started packing oranges. He could turn into one of rich people of Northern Tel Aviv in this way. But his entry and employment in military organization of Haganah completely changed his life path. So that he became was one of Ben-Gurion’s close companions. Closeness of Harel to Ben-Gurion was so much that he appointed him as the head of the Shin Bet and then in 1952 instead of Shiloah became the Mossad’s chief. He headed the Mossad about eleven years, and in 1963, he stepped down from this position. We should remind that 1956 war, Suez war in which France and England and Israel jointly attacked Egypt, Isser Harel had the role of the person in charge of making accompaniment with intelligence services of England and France in this historic event. In addition, Isser Harel’s role as head of the Mossad Harel, in close cooperation with the Jewish Agency in order to transfer Jews around the world to Palestine has a great importance.
Israeli sources and a number of Western scholars and historians have known and evaluated Isser Harel’s role in development of peripheral strategies of Israel, from the Middle East to North Africa as a remarkable role. In these years he had established a close relationship with Iran’s SAVAK. The first contacts were with Timur Bakhtiar, head of SAVAK, that later during Pakravan and Nasiri periods they had expansion and were increased. In any case, in various sources Isser Harel like Shiloah is been mentioned as veteran spy of the Mossad.
At the time his head over the Mossad, Adolf Eichmann, one of the leaders of Nazi Germany, was abducted by their spies and intelligence officers and was transferred to Palestine and was executed in 1962.
Harrell, after Ben Gurion, for a while during Prime Minister Period of Levi Eshkol was his intelligence adviser. According to available documents, he during the years 1969 to 1973 was a member of the Knesset (Parliament) of Israel.

Meir Amit

«Meir Amit» who in Persian sources and documents has been written in different forms including Meir Amit, Amit Meyer, Meh Ir Amit and …, in 1963 was appointed to head the Mossad until 1968.
He was born in Tybryas located on the shores of the Sea of Galilee hn 1921. In 1948, he joined the terrorist organization of Haganah and in the first Arab-Israeli War had an active participation. In 1950, he graduated from Columbia University and in 1951 was appointed as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Operations. In 1954, he achieved the command of operating branch and in covert operations of 1956 war (Suez) played a leading role. In this war, he was in fact the Second commander of the Army headquarters and during the Battle of Sinai was the first assistant of Moshe Dayan. His success in this war caused him to be transferred to the IDF Southern Command.
Meir Amit in January 1962 was appointed as the head of the military intelligence unit. One day after the resignation of Harel, Mossad’s chief, Ben-Gurion by accepting the resignation, appointed Meyer Amit to the head of the Mossad. Of such historical events of the Amit’s head over Mossad 1967 war and occupation of the Golan Heights of Syria, the West Bank of Jordan River, Gaza Strip and Sinai are from Israel that Amit plays remarkable role in them.
The other event is stilling a 21Russian Migraine belonging to Iraq at the time of head of Amit over Mossad. He through his cooperation with the CIA and Mossad intelligence service in Turkey, in August 1966 could attract a non-Muslim pilot by his intelligence officers in Iraq and flee him to Israel. It is needed to mention that a group of Phantoms of America sponsored the aircraft from the Turkish border to the secret airport of the CIA in its territory. The aircraft after refueling again flew to the Mediterranean by escort of Phantoms of the US and was guided to the Israel. According to Israeli and Western sources, Amit after entering as the head of Mossad, some supporters and relatives of former head of Mossad, the Acer Harley removed or replaced and modernized the old system Mossad. This sparked anger in such a way that Harley through your close ones trying to sabotage and disrupt the work was Amit. Amit said the head of the Mossad connection with the CIA and other intelligence services and government America has increased more than ever. Amit himself often went to Washington. (8)

Zui Zamir

Zui Zamir who has been mentioned as "Zamir", "Zemir", "Tesui Zamir" and …in the Farsi documents is another Mossad’s chief that was appointed to this position after the ouster of Meir Amit in 1968.
He was born in Poland in 1924 and in the same year, moved with his parents to Palestine. Zamir in 1942 joined the ranks of the terrorist militia of Palmach and became commander of the army in 1944. In the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, in the position of the battalion commander actively participated in the conflict. In 1950, he was determined as the coach of officers who were considered for promotion to higher grades. In 1953, he entered senior officers training which was held in England. After returning from England became manager of the School of Infantry, and in 1956 with promotion was transferred to the Department of Defense and later became commander. In 1962, for a short time he was in charge of command of the southern army. In July 1966, he was sent to the Israeli military attaché to London, and in 1968, he was appointed as the head of the Mossad and until 1973, shortly after the October War (also known as Ramadan or in the words of Israeli Yom Kippur) headed Mossad.

Isaac Hofi (Khofi)

Gen. Isaac Hofi, who is been mentioned as “Khofi” in the Farsi documents and translations, was appointed to head of the Mossad after Zui Zamir in 1973.
Isaac Hofi was head of Mossad till September 1982, when the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the invasion of that country happened, but he was replaced at that time and was appointed to head the intelligence agency instead of Ou General Nahum. When Hofi headed Mossad his Iranian counterpart was Nasiri, who was in charge of head of SAVAK. Hofi until the fall of the Pahlavi regime and the raise of Islamic Revolution, in the days when Nasser Moghadam was head of SAVAK, continued warm intelligence relations of the Savak and Mossad and strengthened it.
Hofi at the time of the 1973 war was responsible of the commander of the Northern Alliance. Attack to Entebbe airport in Uganda in June 1976 and destruction of Palestinian hijackers are of the famous actions of Isaac Hofi during the time he was head of the Mossad. In Israel's attack to Iraq's Osirak reactor in June 1981, Hofi played a key role as head of Mossad.

Nachum Admoni

Nachum Admoni became the head of the Mossad instead of Gen. Isaac Hofi a few days before the massacre of Sabra and Shatila in September 1982, just as Israeli violations of Lebanese territory had begun. Based on present evidence he always took the position till 1989/1368, and after him, Sayaret Matkal was selected and appointed to head the Mossad. Admony was born in 1929 in Jerusalem. His parents were Polish Jews. He served in Shay and intelligence branch of military in War of 1948 and was discharged in 1949 with the rank of Lieutenant. Admony studied field of international relations at the University of California - Berkeley and returned to Palestine in 1954 and along with others, such as David kimchi began training International Relations at the School of Israeli intelligence agencies. It is said that when the Ethiopian had a key role in peripheral doctrine of Mossad, Admony on his first mission went to Addis Ababa. He in mid-1960s was in Paris at the height of French-Israeli strategic relations. Nahum Admony also served a period in Washington and worked closely with the CIA, and in 1976, he became as deputy of Hofi, head of Mossad. According to contents of different sources, Admony retired in 1989 and left head of the Mossad and in his place Sayert Matkal was appointed to head of the Mossad.