The Israeli Secret Services and the Struggle Against Terrorism

by Ami Pedahzur

  MAKLEF, MORDECHAI (1920—1978). IDF chief of staff (1952—1953).

  MAPAI PARTY. Israeli political group. Mapai is an acronym of the Hebrew phrase meaning “Party of the Laborers of the Land of Israel.” A Zionist and socialist party, it was established in 1930 through a union of the Achdut Ha’avoda and Hapoel Hatza’ir parties. Mapai was the central pillar of the coalition governments, and the main party in the Israeli political system until 1977. Among its leaders were David Ben-Gurion, Levi Eshkol, and Yitzhak Rabin.

  MEIR, GOLDA (1898—1978). Israeli prime minister (1969—1974). For many years she was one of the leaders of the Israeli Labor Party.

  MILITARY INTERVENTION UNIT. In a hostage-rescue situation, a military intervention unit is responsible for “freezing” the situation until the takeover unit arrives. When the lives of hostages are in danger, the intervention unit may carry out the rescue operation.

  MISTAARVIM. Made up of two Hebrew words meaning “to assault” and “to blend in” or “become Arab,” mistaaravim is the name given to military and police units whose soldiers use their good command of the Palestinian dialect and Middle Eastern appearance in order to assimilate into the Arab population. After going undercover, they gather information and engage in special operations.

  MOFAZ, SHAUL (b. 1948). IDF chief of staff (1998—2002). Immediately after ending his military carrier, he joined the Likud Party and became minister of defense (2003—2006). Today he is affiliated with the Kadima Party and serves as the minister of transportation.

  MORDECHAI, YITZHAK (b. 1944). Israeli general, now retired; commander of the IDF Northern Command (1991—1994) and minister of defense (1996—1999).

  MOSSAD (Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations). One of the three main Israeli intelligence organizations. Mossad’s activities are conducted mostly outside of Israeli territory. Its main role is to gather civilian, political, and military intelligence and to engage in clandestine operations outside Israel. In the last decade, it has also devoted extensive efforts to collecting information on the subject of nonconventional weaponry.

  NETANYAHU, JONATHAN (Yoni) (1946—1976). Chief commander of Sayeret Matkal from 1975—1976. During the Entebbe rescue operation he was severely injured and died shortly afterward.

  NEVIOT. Mossad branch that specializes in wiretapping.

  NILI. Jewish underground movement operated in Palestine and assisted the British military forces during World War I, mainly by providing intelligence on the status of the Ottoman Army.

  PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHD (PIJ). Palestinian terrorist group formed during the late 1970s in the Gaza Strip. It adheres to a combination of radical Islamist and nationalist ideologies. It joined Hamas during the mid-1990s in the initiation of suicide attacks against Israeli targets and is considered by many to be the most militant of all Palestinian groups.

  PALESTINE LIBERATION FRONT. Palestinian nationalist and terrorist organization established in 1977. The organization operated with the support of Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq and conducted a number of terrorist attacks, the most famous of which was the hijacking of the Achille Lauro, an Italian cruise ship, in 1985. U.S. forces captured its leader, Abu Abbas, during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In the course of the Al-Aqsa intifada, it committed several acts of terrorism. The organization now has a limited presence in the West Bank.

  PALMACH. The semiregular military forces of the Haganah in Palestine from 1941 to 1948. Palmach (the Hebrew acronym for Plugot Mahatz, “striking forces”) was established on May 15, 1941, to establish a military body that would protect the population in the event that the Germans invaded the country. As a semiregular militia, Palmach had a unique military culture that put an emphasis on socialist values and had a less formal hierarchy and discipline than conventional military forces. In 1948, with the establishment of the Israeli army, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion ordered Palmach to disband.

  PELED, YOSSI (b. 1941). Israeli general (now retired) and commander of the IDF Northern Command from 1986 to 1991.

  PERES, SHIMON (b. 1923). Israeli statesman and politician, until recently affiliated with the Labor Party. Peres served as Israeli prime minister twice (1984—1986, 1995—1996) and was elected president in 2007.

  PERI, YAAKOV (b. 1944). Head of the GSS between 1988 and 1995.

  POPULAR FRONT FOR THE LIBERATION OF PALESTINE (PFLP). Palestinian terrorist group established in 1967 in Beirut by Dr. George Habash. It adheres to a combination of nationalist and Marxist ideologies. Its golden era was the 1970s, when it focused on hostage-taking operations.

  POPULAR FRONT FOR THE LIBERATION OF PALESTINE–GENERAL COMMAND (PFLP-GC). Palestinian terrorist group established by Ahmed Jibril and his supporters in 1968 after splitting off from the PFLP. The group relied over the years on the massive help of the Syrian regime, which allows it to continue to commit terrorist acts to this day. Throughout the years, the PFLP-GC opposed any kind of peace negotiations with Israel and harshly criticized Fatah on the matter of the peace process.

  POPULAR RESISTANCE COMMITTEES. Islamic militia established after the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada. It operates in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip. This militia is composed of members of the Abu Samhadana hamula (clan), the strongest in Rafah.

  QAWUQJI, FAWZI AL- (1890-1976). Syrian army officer who participated in the Syrian rebellion against the French in 1932. In 1948 he was appointed commander of the Arab Salvation Army.

  RON, ALIK (b. 1957). Commander of Yamam from 1988 to 1992, former commander of Shaldag, and head of the Israeli Police Northern Command between from 1997 to 2001.

  SAYERET GIVATI .Reconnaissance unit of the Givati Brigade. Its main mission is gathering tactical intelligence. Deployed in the Southern Command, it concentrates most of its activities on the Gaza Strip.

  SAYERET GOLANI. Reconnaissance unit of the Golani Brigade. Its main mission is gathering tactical intelligence. Established in 1948, it is the only reconnaissance unit whose soldiers receive extensive counterterrorist training, since it is also considered an intervention unit in the Northern Command.

  SAYERET MAGLAN. IDF commando unit established in the mid-1980s as an elite antitank force. Soldiers in this unit specialize in using sophisticated rockets against enemy armored corps. In the second half of the 1990s, Maglan soldiers also began to operate in the capacity of an elite antiterrorist unit in southern Lebanon, and later additionally fought against Palestinians during the Al-Aqsa intifada.

  SAYERET MATKAL. The General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, an IDF special unit subordinated to Aman. Although the unit’s main function is to infiltrate territories of neighboring countries in order to gather intelligence, it has also been involved in numerous counterterrorism operations.

  SAYERET NAHAL. Reconnaissance unit of the Nahal Brigade. Its main mission is gathering tactical intelligence by means of reconnaissance missions. Deployed in the Central Command, it concentrates on fighting terrorist groups in the West Bank.

  SAYERET PARATROOPERS. Reconnaissance unit of the Paratroopers Brigade. Its main mission is gathering tactical intelligence. It is considered one of the top Israeli commando units and until the 1970s, along with the Sayeret Matkal, the top antiterrorist unit.

  SAYERET SHALDAG. Commando unit of the Israel Air Force. Established in 1974, its main mission is to mark ground targets for aircraft by means of position-pinpointing equipment. However, over the years the unit also functioned as an antiterrorist commando unit, and its soldiers participated in various operations in the West Bank during the Al-Aqsa intifada.

  SAYERET YAEL. Special unit of the IDF Combat Engineering Corps. It specializes in explosives, engineering reconnaissance, crossing water obstacles, and breaching buildings. It was formed after the Israeli army’s failure to break into the house where Hamas terrorists held kidnapped IDF soldier Nachshon Wachsman in 1994.

  SECOND LEBANON WAR. Military confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah that erupted after the latter attacked an IDF patrol and kidnapped two Israeli soldiers
near the Israel-Lebanon border on July 12, 2006. The Israeli response included the air bombardment of Hezbollah bases all over Lebanon including Beirut, as well as ground attacks. Hezbollah fighters fired approximately 3,900 rockets on northern Israel during the war. Hostilities ended on August 14, 2006, after the UN Security Council adopted resolution 1701 declaring that its peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon would be expanded.

  SECURITY ZONE. Area in southern Lebanon under the control of Israel and the South Lebanon Army in the years 1985-000. This strip of land was established as a security zone after the redeployment of IDF forces in 1985 to southern Lebanon as the last step of the First Lebanon War. The area borders were identified by their colors: The southern border with Israel was known as the Purple Line, and its northern border in Lebanon was called the Red Line.

  SEPARATION FENCE. Barrier built between Israel and the Palestinian territories. Construction commenced in 2002 and continues to this day. The fence is equipped with surveillance cameras and is guarded by units of the Border Police. Even though the fence is widely considered a success by Israelis, it has been the object of much criticism by the international community, which argues that it harms the Palestinian citizens’ right of freedom of movement.

  SHABAK. Known also as the Shin Bet until the late 1960s, Shabak (a Hebrew acronym for the General Security Service [GSS]) is one of the three main Israeli intelligence organizations. It specializes in gathering intelligence in Israel and the occupied territories about elements attempting to subvert state institutions or harm its citizens through acts of terrorism.

  SHAI. Intelligence branch of the Haganah.

  SHALOM, AVRAHAM (b. 1928). Former head of the GSS who retired after his involvement in the Bus 300 affair was revealed.

  SHAYETET 13 (Flotilla 13). Commando unit of the Israeli Navy, established in 1949. It is activated primarily in special marine operations, which include infiltration into enemy area from the sea. During the Al-Aqsa intifada, it participated in various operations in the West Bank.

  SHILOAH, REUVEN (1909-1959). Israeli intelligence pioneer. Before the establishment of the State of Israel, he served in the Shai and was one of the organization’s more successful operatives. After 1948, he became Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion’s advisor for intelligence affairs and initiated several structural reforms in the Israeli intelligence community. He founded Mossad and headed it organization from 1949 to 1952.

  SHIMSHON UNIT. IDF Southern Command mistaaravim unit that operated in Gaza between 1988 and 1994. The unit was formed and designed to use mistaaravim tactics when fighting terrorists in the first intifada, and it concentrated on the arrests of suspects of various terrorist activities. During the six years of its existence it achieved significant success. However, the unit sometimes employed highly controversial methods, such as unwarranted shooting, which marred its reputation and for which a number of unit commanders were put on trial.

  SHOMRON, DAN (1937-2008). IDF chief of staff (1987-1991).

  SIGINT. Signal intelligence, based on the detection of electronic signals (telephone calls, fax transmissions, email, and the like).

  SILWAN CELL. Terrorist network affiliated with Hamas that operated in 2001 and 2002. Members of the group were Palestinians from East Jerusalem as well as Israeli citizens. They used their freedom of movement to commit two suicide attacks and five other bombings.

  SOUTH LEBANON ARMY (SLA). Militia established under Israeli auspices in the late 1970s. It was dismantled after the withdrawal of the IDF from Lebanon in 2000. In the beginning, it included mainly Druze and Christian Lebanese from the Major Haddad militia. After the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the SLA expanded its manpower and the Shiites became the largest group of soldiers. The SLA had two chief commanders: Major Saad Haddad from its founding until 1984, and Antoine Lahad between the years 1984 and 2000.

  SPECIAL DUTIES OFFICERS.Aman HUMINT officers,trained either as handlers of agents or as interrogators.

  STAGE PLAN. Resolution adopted at the twelfth session of the Palestine National Council on June 8, 1974. The program stated that Palestinians agreed to settle in any part of Palestine that Israel relinquished and would struggle to liberate the rest of the occupied territories in stages, either peacefully or by military means. The resolution also affirmed that Palestinians would not tolerate any Arab country’s control of Palestinian territories and would strive to create an independent state.

  SYRIAN SOCIAL NATIONALIST PARTY (SSNP). Lebanese political party established in 1932. The SSNP ideology revolves around the principle of a “Greater Syria,” which is to include Syria, Lebanon, various areas of Turkey, Israel, and other countries. The party participated in the Lebanese civil war and engaged in terrorist activities against Israeli forces when the IDF invaded Lebanon.

  TACTICAL INTELLIGENCE. Intelligence required for planning and conducting tactical operations.

  TAKEOVER UNITS. In hostage-taking situations, a detachment whose tasks are to overcome terrorists and rescue hostages. Israel currently employs three takeover units: Sayeret Matkal, Yamam, and Shayetet 13.

  TANZIM. Palestinian terrorist organization affiliated with Fatah. Marwan Barghouti, who headed the organization until his arrest in 2002, established Tanzim in 1994. From the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, Tanzim joined in the fighting against Israel, and its members committed numerous acts of terrorism, including suicide bombings.

  UNIT 154. Aman unit established in 1948 as Intelligence Service 10. It dealt with the activation of agents outside the borders of Israel. During the years 1963-1964, the unit was disbanded and its functions were delegated to Mossad at the order of Meir Amit, who headed both agencies at the same time.

  UNIT 504. The HUMINT unit of Israeli military intelligence. Most of its members are officers who serve in the (salaried) standing army. Intelligence gathering is performed mostly by means of recruiting collaborators in the border areas. In the past, members of Unit 504 would extend their operations to the four countries that border Israel: Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt. However, over the years, the unit—now known as Unit 6154—became increasingly specific to the Lebanon area.

  UNIT 8200. Israeli counterpart to the American National Security Agency (NSA), subordinated to Aman. It was previously known as Unit 848.

  UNIT 9900. Aman unit that collects visual intelligence (VISINT) by means of satellites. Currently, three Israeli satellites are active: Ofeq 5, a military satellite that carries advanced photographic equipment; Eros 1, a commercial satellite that can detect objects smaller than six feet; and Eros 2, also a commercial satellite.

  VARASH. Intelligence council whose name is the acronym of the Hebrew phrase meaning Secret Services Heads Committee. It consists of the heads of Mossad, Aman, GSS, and the military secretary of the government. Sometimes it also includes representatives from the National Security Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It meets at least once a month in order to coordinate among the different intelligence organizations.

  VISINT. Visual intelligence, based on the gathering of visual data by satellites, pilotless aircraft (UAVs), and advanced photographing equipment.

  WAHHABISM. Islamic reformist movement that emerged some two hundred years ago with the aim of ridding Islamic societies of cultural practices and interpretations that had been acquired over the centuries. Most Wahhabists live in Saudi Arabia.

  WAR OF 1967 (Six-Day War). Military confrontation between Israel and Jordan, Syria, and Egypt. It broke out on June 5, 1967, with a surprise Israel Air Force attack on Syrian and Egyptian military airports. During the war, which lasted six days, Israel conquered the Sinai Peninsula (including the Gaza Strip), the West Bank, and the Golan Heights.

  WEIZMANN, CHAIM (1874-1952). President of the World Zionist Organization (1920-1929, 1935-1946) and first president of the State of Israel (1948-1952).

  YARIV, AHARON (1920-1994). Former general in the IDF and head of Aman between 1964 and 1973. After his retirement, he joined the Labor Party.

  YATOM, D
ANI (b. 1945). IDF general and head of Mossad (1996-1998) after his retirement from the military. Today he is a member of the Knesset representing the Labor Party.

  X COMMITTEE. Israeli government committee responsible for authorizing targets for assassination. The foreign media coined its name. The committee was established in 1972 and consisted of Prime Minister Golda Meir, Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan, Foreign Minister Abba Evan, Minister of Education Yigal Allon, and Minister Without Portfolio Israel Galili. During its meetings, Mossad head Zvi Zamir would present the evidence incriminating the terrorist activist marked for assassination, and members of the commission would decide whether to approve it.

  ZAMIR, ZVI. (b. 1925). Former IDF general and head of Mossad from 1978 to 1982.

  SOURCES

  Alexander, Yonah. Palestinian Secular Terrorism: Profiles of Fatah, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Ardsley, N.Y.: Transnational Publishers, 2003.

  Anti-Defamation League. “Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.” www.adl.org.

  Argaman, Yosef. It Was Top Secret. Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1990.

  ——. Shadows War. Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 2007.

  Assenhaim, Omri. “Shimshon’s Choice.” NRG, www.nrg.co.il.

  Asser, Martin. “Ahmed Jibril and the PFLP-GC.” BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk.

  Baumgarten, Helga. “The Three Faces/Phases of Palestinian Nationalism, 1948-2005.” Journal of Palestine Studies 34, no. 4 (Summer 2005): 32.

  Bergman, Ronen. “‘Keshet’ Unit in Mossad Provides Electronics and Logistics.” Haaretz, November 12, 1998.

  Bronner, Ethan. “In Mideast, A Renewal of Terror.” Boston Globe, November 24, 1996.

  Buhbut, Amir. “Fighting in the [West] Bank, Looking Up North.” NRG, www.nrg.co.il.

  Commission of Inquiry Into the Events at the Refugee Camps in Beirut. Final Report. Jerusalem: State of Israel, 1983.