The Mossad method

The intricately planned murder of a Hamas operative in Dubai has shined a spotlight on Israel’s feared and revered secret service

Security footage of the men believed to be part of the hit squad.
(Image credit: Reuters)

Did Mossad kill al-Mabhouh?

In keeping with its “policy of ambiguity” on intelligence matters, Israel has refused to confirm or deny any role in last month’s killing of Hamas arms broker Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. “There is no reason to think that it was the Israeli Mossad,” was the Israeli foreign minister’s carefully worded response. But intelligence experts say the meticulously planned assassination, which is thought to have involved up to 26 accomplices, bore the hallmarks of a Mossad hit—from the use of stolen foreign identities to the droll “Do not disturb” sign the assassins fixed to the dead man’s hotel room door.

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Is murder Mossad’s main function?

What is its overall track record?

Mixed. Mossad has made some serious tactical and strategic errors. Critics say its intelligence was faulty prior to the surprise attack by Arab armies in 1973, and that it missed the warning signs of the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and both Palestinian intifadas. Assassinations have also gone wrong. In 1973, a team of six agents shot dead a Moroccan waiter in Lillehammer, Norway, in front of his pregnant wife, after mistaking him for the leader of the Fatah offshoot Black September. Another diplomatic crisis followed an attempt in 1997 to murder Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Jordan. Two Mossad agents, using Canadian passports, were caught injecting a nerve toxin into Meshaal’s ear. They fled to the Israeli Embassy in Amman, and Israel was forced to admit its role and turn over an antidote.

How do Israelis view Mossad?

They’re of two minds. While many Israelis like Mossad’s take-no-prisoners methods, critics worry that even its successes can harm Israel’s image, by suggesting the country operates in defiance of international law. In fact, Mossad went largely quiet after the Meshaal poisoning, until 2002, when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered that the agency be used more aggressively, with a “knife between its teeth.” But as Mossad’s profile has risen again, so have the misgivings. Writing recently in the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, security expert Yossi Melman said that despite its reputation, “Mossad is not ‘Murder Inc.,’ like the Mafia,” and is supposed to focus on intelligence gathering. “Nevertheless,” he said, “these are the operations that give the organization its halo, its shining image. This is ultimately liable to blind its own ranks.”