- The establishment of the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (Mossad)
- The Mossad Logo
- The CEOs
The establishment of the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (Mossad)
The Mossad was established immediately after the establishment of the State of Israel, when Prime Minister David Ben Gurion recognized that national frameworks must be set up for the intelligence bodies that already operated prior to the establishment of the state. As is customary worldwide, the decision was to set up three separate frameworks: A military intelligence service (later IDI), an internal security service (later ISA), and an intelligence service operating abroad (later Mossad).
This plan was implemented gradually. On 30 June 1948, the Haganah Information Service HQ, Shai, was disbanded, and the State of Israel's intelligence services were established. In July 1949 , Reuven Shiloah, a Foreign Ministry man and a senior official in the political department, proposed establishing a central institution for coordinating intelligence activity. Ben Gurion approved the proposal, and on 13 December 1949, he announced the establishment of such a body under Reuven Shiloah. This date went down in history as the establishment date of the Mossad, which later became the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations.
This coordination body was not involved in intelligence collection abroad (which was carried out at the time by a special department within the Foreign ministry - "Da'at"), until in early 1951, the decision was made to establish a central authority for collecting intelligence abroad, to be subordinate to the Mossad. This entity, known as the Reshut, was the main Mossad body in its early years, and it later became the Tzomet Division, specializing in recruiting and handling agents.
In 1952, Reuven Shiloah completed his term as Mossad Director, and was replaced by Isser Harel, who was previously head of Shin Bet, and was now placed in charge of both organizations. Harel served as Mossad Director until 1963. During his term, the Mossad grew from about 80 employees to over 620, expanded its activity, and performed a variety of intelligence collection and special operations tasks.
The establishment of the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (Mossad)
The Mossad was established immediately after the establishment of the State of Israel, when Prime Minister David Ben Gurion recognized that national frameworks must be set up for the intelligence bodies that already operated prior to the establishment of the state. As is customary worldwide, the decision was to set up three separate frameworks: A military intelligence service (later IDI), an internal security service (later ISA), and an intelligence service operating abroad (later Mossad).
This plan was implemented gradually. On 30 June 1948, the Haganah Information Service HQ, Shai, was disbanded, and the State of Israel's intelligence services were established. In July 1949 , Reuven Shiloah, a Foreign Ministry man and a senior official in the political department, proposed establishing a central institution for coordinating intelligence activity. Ben Gurion approved the proposal, and on 13 December 1949, he announced the establishment of such a body under Reuven Shiloah. This date went down in history as the establishment date of the Mossad, which later became the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations.
This coordination body was not involved in intelligence collection abroad (which was carried out at the time by a special department within the Foreign ministry - "Da'at"), until in early 1951, the decision was made to establish a central authority for collecting intelligence abroad, to be subordinate to the Mossad. This entity, known as the Reshut, was the main Mossad body in its early years, and it later became the Tzomet Division, specializing in recruiting and handling agents.
In 1952, Reuven Shiloah completed his term as Mossad Director, and was replaced by Isser Harel, who was previously head of Shin Bet, and was now placed in charge of both organizations. Harel served as Mossad Director until 1963. During his term, the Mossad grew from about 80 employees to over 620, expanded its activity, and performed a variety of intelligence collection and special operations tasks.
The Mossad Logo
Until the 1970s, the Mossad had no logo, and the verse from Proverbs 24,6, "By subterfuge will you wage war" was considered the Mossad's unofficial slogan. In the early 1970s, during Zvi Zamir's tenure as Mossad Director, Mossad employees were asked to participate in an internal competition to submit proposals for the Mossad's logo, similar to symbols representing the IDF corps and parallel institutions throughout the world.
The new familiar Mossad symbol was not chosen in the competition, but was proposed afterwards by the late Shlomo Cohen Abarbanel, deputy director of the Mossad, who was a field officer with a penchant for sketching.
In the center of the symbol is the seven-branched candelabrum (menorah) as it appears on Titus's arch in Rome. The menorah is encircled by the verse "Where there is no wise direction, the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety" (Proverbs 11, 14) attributed to King Solomon. May these words continue to guide the Mossad, for this is the secret of our success - wisdom and subterfuge.
The Mossad Previous CEOS
Reuven Shiloah, 1952-1949
First Mossad Director; served between 1949 - 1952.
Reuven Shiloah (Zislanski) was born in Jerusalem in 1909. He changed his last name to Shiloah after joining the underground resistance.
In pre-state Israel, Shiloah was involved in covert operations of the Jewish Yishuv in Israel, and was a close associate and confidant of David Ben Gurion and Moshe Sharett. In 1931, he was sent to Iraq and Kurdistan, and in the Second World War, he was the Jewish Agency's POC with the British. He was involved in recruiting people of the Yishuv to the British Army, and convincing the British to include them in operations to save Jews in occupied Europe and British activity on the continent, such as parachuting Chana Senesh and her friends into Hungary. From 1945 -1947, he worked in the U.S. on behalf of the Jewish Agency. Shiloah was also involved in intelligence collection, and managed to obtain the Arab League's plans to invade Israel upon the establishment of the State.
After the State of Israel was established, Shiloah was appointed head of the foreign ministry's political department (Da'at). He participated in the ceasefire talks with Egypt and Jordan, and met with King Abdullah of Jordan many times.
Given Shiloah's rich intelligence experience, it was only natural that in December 1949, Prime Minister and Defense Minister David Ben Gurion appointed him head of the Mossad (Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations, formerly the Central Institute for Coordination), which was established on Shiloah's initiative, with the aim of coordinating the activity of all of Israel's intelligence bodies. Shiloah initiated the development of ties with neighboring countries (Turkey, Iran, Ethiopia), created initial ties with the Kurdish Liberation Movement, and began engaging with Western intelligence services, the most important of which was the CIA.
Shiloah resigned from his position as Mossad Director in 1952. He served as the diplomatic representative at the Israeli embassy in Washington in 1953, and upon his return from the U.S., he was appointed special advisor to Foreign Minister Golda Meir.
Reuven Shiloah died in 1959 at the age of 49.