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{{short description|National intelligence agency of Israel}}
{{For|the institute that facilitated Jewish immigration to
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{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2012}}
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The '''Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations''' ({{lang-he|המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים|ha-Mosád le-Modiʿín u-le-Tafkidím Meyuḥadím}}), popularly known as '''Mossad'''{{efn|Also referred to as "the Mossad" ({{lang-he|הַמּוֹסָד|ha-Mosád}}, {{IPA-he|hamoˈsad|IPA}}; {{lang-ar|الموساد|al-Mōsād}}, {{IPA-ar|almoːˈsaːd|IPA}}; {{lit.|the Institute}}).}} ({{IPAc-en|UK|ˈ|m|ɒ|s|æ|d}} {{respell|MOSS|ad}}; {{IPAc-en|US|m|oʊ|ˈ|s|ɑː|d}} {{respell|moh|SAHD}}), is the national intelligence agency of the [[Israel|State of Israel]]. It is one of the main entities in the [[Israeli Intelligence Community]], along with [[Military Intelligence Directorate (Israel)|Aman]] (military intelligence) and [[Shin Bet]] (internal security).
Mossad is responsible for [[intelligence assessment|intelligence collection]], [[covert operation]]s, and [[Counterterrorism|counter-terrorism]]. Its director answers directly and only to the [[Prime Minister of Israel|Prime Minister]]. Its annual budget is estimated to be around {{Text|₪10 billion}} (US$2.73 billion), and it is estimated that it employs around 7,000 people, making it one of the world's largest espionage agencies.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-more-ops-more-secrets-more-money-mossad-s-supercharged-makeover-1.6410934 |title=A Golden Age for the Mossad: More Targets, More Ops, More Money |last=Levinson |first=Chaim |date=2018-08-26 |work=[[Haaretz]] |access-date=2019-07-02 }}</ref> The organization is alleged to have been involved with many [[assassination]] plots across a variety of locations.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Staff |title=Mossad expert, ex-spies outline planning, challenges of targeted killings |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/mossad-expert-ex-spies-outline-planning-challenges-of-targeted-killings/ |website=The Times of Israel |access-date=20 May 2024}}</ref>
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==Alleged operations==
=== Operation Harpoon ===
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====Egypt====
* Provision of intelligence for the cutting of communications between Port Said and Cairo in 1956.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}
* Mossad spy [[Wolfgang Lotz]], holding West German citizenship, infiltrated Egypt in 1957, and gathered intelligence on Egyptian missile sites, military installations, and industries. He also composed a list of German rocket scientists working for the Egyptian government, and sent some of them letter bombs. After the East German head of state made a state visit to Egypt, the Egyptian government detained thirty West German citizens as a goodwill gesture. Lotz, assuming that he had been discovered, confessed to his [[
* After a tense May 25, 1967, confrontation with [[CIA]] Tel Aviv station chief John Hadden, who warned that the United States would help defend Egypt if Israel launched a surprise attack, Mossad director [[Meir Amit]] flew to Washington, D.C. to meet with U.S. Defense Secretary [[Robert McNamara]] and reported back to the Israeli cabinet that the United States had given Israel "a flickering green light" to attack.<ref name="israel_attack_iran_nyt">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/magazine/will-israel-attack-iran.html?pagewanted=all|title=Will Israel Attack Iran?|last=Bergman|first=Ronen|newspaper=The New York Times|date=25 January 2012|access-date=2 March 2012}}</ref>
* Provision of intelligence on the [[Egyptian Air Force]] for [[Operation Focus]], the opening air strike of the [[Six-Day War]].
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Mossad informed the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] and CIA in August 2001 that, based on its intelligence, as many as 200 terrorists were slipping into the United States and planning "a major assault on the United States". The Israeli intelligence agency cautioned the FBI that it had picked up indications of a "large-scale target" in the United States and that Americans would be "very vulnerable".<ref name="latimes2001">[http://articles.latimes.com/2001/sep/20/news/mn-47840 Officials Told of ‘Major Assault’ Plans].</ref> However, "It is not known whether U.S. authorities thought the warning to be credible, or whether it contained enough details to allow counter-terrorism teams to come up with a response." A month later, terrorists struck at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon [[September 11 attacks|in the largest terrorist attack in history]].<ref name="latimes2001"/>
The US journalists [[Dylan Howard]], Melissa Cronin and James Robertson linked the Mossad to American sex offender [[Jeffrey Epstein]] in their book ''Epstein: Dead Men Tell No Tales''. They relied for the most part on the former Israeli intelligence officer [[Ari Ben-Menashe]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-12-09 |title=The disturbing reason Jeffrey Epstein's homes had a camera in every room |url=https://7news.com.au/the-morning-show/jeffrey-epstein-was-a-mossad-spy-says-investigative-journalist-dylan-howard-c-595812 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227003644/https://7news.com.au/the-morning-show/jeffrey-epstein-was-a-mossad-spy-says-investigative-journalist-dylan-howard-c-595812 |archive-date=December 27, 2021 |access-date=2024-01-07 |website=7NEWS |language=en}}</ref> According to him, Epstein's activities as a spy served to gather compromising material on powerful people in order to [[blackmail]] them.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McKay |first=Hollie |date=2020-06-17 |title=Jeffrey Epstein's alleged 'spy' ties under fresh scrutiny in new book |url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/jeffrey-epsteins-alleged-spy-ties-under-fresh-scrutiny-in-new-book |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240107120103/https://www.foxnews.com/us/jeffrey-epsteins-alleged-spy-ties-under-fresh-scrutiny-in-new-book |archive-date=January 7, 2024 |access-date=2024-01-07 |website=Fox News |language=en-US}}</ref> There is also a possible connection to the Mossad via [[Ghislaine Maxwell]], whose father [[Robert Maxwell]] is said to have had contacts with the Mossad.<ref>{{Cite web |last=O’ Malley |first=JP |title=For writer who broke Epstein case, a rumored Mossad link is worth digging into. |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-writer-who-broke-epstein-case-a-rumored-mossad-link-is-worth-digging-into/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104185331/https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-writer-who-broke-epstein-case-a-rumored-mossad-link-is-worth-digging-into/ |archive-date=January 4, 2024 |access-date=January 7, 2024 |website=The Times of Israel}}</ref> Epstein's victim [[Virginia Giuffre]] also alleged Epstein to be an intelligence asset, linking on [[Twitter]] to a [[Reddit]] page, that alleged Epstein being a spy, running a blackmail operation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Correspondent |first=Jack Royston Chief Royal |date=2023-10-05 |title=Prince Andrew's accuser shares Jeffrey Epstein spy theory |url=https://www.newsweek.com/prince-andrew-virginia-giuffre-jeffrey-epstein-spy-theory-1832295 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240107063023/https://www.newsweek.com/prince-andrew-virginia-giuffre-jeffrey-epstein-spy-theory-1832295 |archive-date=January 7, 2024 |access-date=2024-01-07 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}</ref>
====Uruguay====
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{{Further|Israel-New Zealand relations|Foreign espionage in New Zealand}}
In July 2004, New Zealand imposed [[International sanctions|diplomatic sanctions]] on Israel over an [[2004 Israel–New Zealand passport scandal|incident]] in which two Australia-based Israelis, Uriel Kelman and Eli Cara, who were allegedly working for Mossad, attempted to fraudulently obtain [[New Zealand passport]]s by claiming the identity of a severely disabled man. Israeli Foreign Minister [[Silvan Shalom]] later apologized to New Zealand for their actions. New Zealand cancelled several other passports believed to have been obtained by Israeli agents.<ref name="NZ_Herald_10332767">{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10332767 |title=Israeli government apologises to New Zealand|date=June 26, 2005|agency=[[NZPA]]|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|access-date=October 26, 2011}}</ref> Both Kelman and Cara served half of their six-month sentences and, upon release, were [[deportation|deported]] to Israel. Two others, an Israeli, Ze'ev Barkan, and a New Zealander, David Reznick, are believed to have been the third and fourth men involved in the passport affair but they both managed to leave New Zealand before being apprehended.<ref name="NZ_Herald_3596863">{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/israeli-spy-case/news/article.cfm?c_id=606&objectid=3596863|title=At home with the Mossad men|author=Hallel, Amir|date=October 2, 2004|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|access-date=October 26, 2011}}</ref>
===International Criminal Court===
The Mossad for years allegedly conducted an effort to "surveil, hack, pressure, smear and allegedly threaten" senior staff of the [[International Criminal Court]] (ICC) in an attempt to derail the court’s investigation of Israeli actions in the [[Palestinian territories]]. [[Fatou Bensouda]], [[Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court|Prosecutor]] of the ICC, and her family were victims of an alleged prolonged campaign by Mossad director [[Yossi Cohen]] to dissuade her from opening prosecution of Israeli officials for [[war crimes]].<ref name="guardian280524">{{cite web |last1=Davies |first1=Harry |title=Revealed: Israeli spy chief ‘threatened’ ICC prosecutor over war crimes inquiry |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/28/israeli-spy-chief-icc-prosecutor-war-crimes-inquiry |website=The Guardian |access-date=30 May 2024 |date=28 May 2024}}</ref>
==In popular culture==
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(Alphabetical by show)
* [[Tehran (TV series)|Tehran]] (2020–present) is a spy thriller television series about a Mossad agent working undercover in Iran.
* In the TV series ''[[The Blacklist (TV series)|The Blacklist]]'' (
* In the TV series ''[[Covert Affairs]]'' (2010–2015), Mossad agent Eyal Lavin is a recurring character.
* Since the ''[[NCIS (TV series)|NCIS]]'' season 3 episode "[[NCIS season 3|Kill Ari (Part 1)]]" (2005), Mossad has played an instrumental part. Mossad's presence includes one of the main characters, Agent [[Ziva David]], who is a former Mossad Agent. She originally filled the position of Mossad liaison to NCIS, until the end of [[NCIS season 7|season 7]], when she became a full-time NCIS agent. Her father, [[List of NCIS characters#Eli David|Eli David]], was the director of Mossad, until the [[NCIS season 10|season 10]] episode "[[Shabbat Shalom (NCIS)|Shabbat Shalom]]", when he was killed. Many other characters have been included in the show from Mossad, including [[Michael Rivkin]] and [[Ari Haswari]]. Some episodes of the show have taken place in Israel.
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[[Category:Israeli intelligence agencies]]
[[Category:1949 establishments in Israel]]
[[Category:Words and phrases in Modern Hebrew]]
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