Unveiling Mossad: Navigating Trust, Betrayal, and Heroic Feats

 

Mossad's brave pursuit: Eichmann!

     The Israeli spy agency Mossad has some negative media attention and is frowned upon by some Western intelligence agencies for spying on them. 

One well-known incident involving Israel’s Mossad spying on American soil was uncovered when, in the late 1990s, monitoring devices, commonly referred to as "StingRays" or "IMSI catchers," were discovered in the Washington, D.C. area.

     Some were found near the White House! These devices are capable of intercepting mobile phone communications, and evidence pointed towards Mossad agents as the perpetrators.  

     Despite this violation of trust, U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies continue to cooperate and share intelligence on key global threats that concern both nations. Nonetheless, it's worth acknowledging Mossad for executing one of the most impactful covert operations ever conducted by any spy agency—the abduction of fugitive Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann. They apprehended him in Buenos Aires and brought him to Israel, where he was executed in 1962. 

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      Mossad operative Rafi Eitan was named the leader of an eight-man team, most of whom were Shin Bet agents. They arrived in Buenos Aires in April 1960 after confirming Eichmann's identity and put him under surveillance until they had his daily routine down pat.

   Eichmann arrived home by bus from work at around the same time every evening, so they jumped him as he walked by a vacant meadow by the bus stop he so often used. The mission was almost abandoned on the day they planned to abduct him because he didn’t show up at the bus stop at the usual time.

     The team stayed in place, waiting, and a half-hour later, Eichmann arrived and got off the bus. Mossad agent Peter Malkin nonchalantly walked up to him and asked in Spanish if he had a moment.

     Eichmann panicked and tried to leave, but two more Mossad men appeared from the meadow, and the three wrestled him to the ground. After a struggle, they forced Eichmann into a waiting car and hid him on the floor under a blanket.

     It was a wonderful Mossad mission because of the nature of Adolf Eichmann. He was in charge of transporting millions of Jews to concentration camps, where they were gassed to death. Eichmann said towards the end of the war that he would leap laughing into the grave because the feeling that he had five million Jews on his conscience would be for him a source of extraordinary satisfaction.

     Thank you for that one, Mossad!

Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S. is a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and writes about the ‘Corey Pearson- CIA Spymaster’ spy thriller series. Check out his latest spy thriller, MISSION OF VENGEANCE.