Last modified: 2026-03-07 by martin karner
Keywords: mossad | institute for intelligence and special operations | hamosad lemodi'in uletafkidim meyuhadim |
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image located by William Garrison, 30 July 2024
(picture, source)
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The Mossad (lit. Institute) is the well-known name of
the Israeli intelligence service. Its full name is HaMosad
LeModi'in U'LeTafkidim Meyuhadim or Institute for
Intelligence and Special Operations and it is the Israeli
eqvivalent of the British MI6 or the American CIA, which in
general sense means that it only operates outside the state
boundaries.
Dov Gutterman, 31 October 2002
The Institute for
Intelligence and Special Operations) is a state organization
responsible for secret activities abroad – gathering information,
thwarting threats of unconventional weapons and terrorism, conducting
special operations, rescuing Jews abroad, and providing intelligence
to the Prime Minister, the Government, and the defense
establishment on security and foreign affairs
issues. Its activities are intended to protect the security of the
State of Israel and advance its national goals, which are determined
by the Prime Minister and the government, subject to the laws and
values of the State of Israel.
It was established on December 13, 1949 when then Prime Minister and
Minister of Defense, David Ben-Gurion, signed a
secret letter
to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the
instructions as follows (original in Hebrew):
"According to my
instructions, an institution was established to centralize and
coordinate the activities of the Intelligence and Security Services of
the State (English: Military Intelligence Department),
the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (English: General Security Service),
and more. I assign Reuven Shiloah, the Advisor for Special Affairs at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to organize the institution and head it. [...]"
Hence it was initially called the "Institute for the Concentration and Coordination of Intelligence
Operations", also known as "Central Authority for the Concentration and Coordination of
Intelligence and Security Services", also known as "Central Institution for
the Centralization and Coordination of Intelligence and Security Services". "Mossad" first was
nothing more than a coordinating headquarters body between the
intelligence and security services of the State, without command
powers or responsibility and authority for collecting intelligence
abroad, while the day on which the Mossad began to function as an
"institution" is February 8, 1951. This was done to replace the
clandestine organizations that had operated in the previous years of
Independence and was supposed to coordinate the activities of the
other two bodies. This authority, known as "The Authority", formed the main part of what became
Mossad and included representatives from the other two services at both the headquarters
and field levels. Mossad was now detached from the Foreign Ministry
and placed under the Prime Minister's office. In the following period, the Coordination Institution (a.k.a.
Coordination Bureau) under Shiloah's leadership took on more and more responsibilities and roles, and on
April 1, 1951, the Political Department's operations were transferred
to a new body, "Mossad". Its headquarters are in Tel Aviv.
Esteban Rivera, 2 March 2026
image by Dov Gutterman, 22 Juny 2007
Newspaper Yedioth Aharonot of 31 October 2002 published a
photo showing the Israeli prime minister with the previous and
the new heads of the Mossad. On the right corner of the photo,
one can see part of the Mossad flag. The flag is white, charged
with the Menorah from the state
emblem in blue. There is an inscription in blue above the
emblem which seems to be the Mossad motto (a phrase from the
Bible). The bottom of the flag cannot be seen, but it possibly
bears an inscription with the Mossad name.
Dov Gutterman, 31 October 2002
According to this Mossad
webpage, their motto is Where no counsel is, the people
fall, but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety
(Proverbs 11:14).
Santiago Dotor, 8 February 2006
No, on the flag there is another phrase, from Proverbs 24:6.
It can be translated as: "For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors
there is safety."
Dov Gutterman, 8 February 2006
"Until the
1970s, the Mossad did not have a graphic symbol to represent it. Until
then, the verse 'With cunning you shall wage war for yourself' taken
from Proverbs 24:6 was unofficially
associated with the Mossad. In the
early 1970s, during Zvi Zamir's tenure as head of the Mossad, the
employees of the Mossad were asked to participate in an internal
tender and submit proposals for a graphic symbol for the Mossad, just
as there are symbols representing the IDF forces and similar
institutions around the world. The Mossad emblem as it is known today
was not chosen in this competition, but was designed later by the late Shlomo Cohen Abarbanel,
who was the deputy head of the Mossad, an operations officer and possessed
artistic talent and a great love of painting. In the center of the
symbol stands the seven-branched Temple Menorah, as it appears on the
Arch of Titus in Rome. Around the menorah appears the verse 'Without counsel a people
falls, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety' (Proverbs 11:14),
attributed to King Solomon.
It is fitting that these words will always chart the path for the Mossad for intelligence
and special functions, as this is the secret of the organization's
success – acting with wisdom and cunning." (source)
Sources:
https://www.mossad.gov.il/history
https://www.israeldefense.co.il/...
https://www.linkedin.com/company/mossad-careers
https://kotar.cet.ac.il/...
https://kotar.cet.ac.il/...
https://ru.wikipedia.org/...
https://he.wikipedia.org/...
Esteban Rivera, 2 March 2026
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