A Legacy Forged in Survival
We all love a good spy story - James Bond, Jason Bourne, you name it. But the real-world spy “game” is something else entirely. Enter the Mossad.
Israel’s need for effective intelligence was urgent from the moment of its birth. On May 14, 1948, the Israeli state was established amid chaos and conflict. Within hours, its neighbors launched attacks, forcing the young nation to rely on sheer ingenuity and resilience to survive. Thus, the Mossad was established in the early 1950s as Israel’s premier intelligence agency.
V24 founder Stefan Tompson sat down with former Mossad agent Avner Avraham, who shared a rare glimpse into the shadowy world of Israeli intelligence. Avraham offered an exclusive look at Mossad’s most legendary operations. Let’s dive into five of the agency’s most iconic missions.
1. Operation Finale
Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi architect of the Holocaust, evaded justice after WWII, living freely in Argentina. In 1960, Mossad agents tracked him down and devised an elaborate plan to capture and smuggle him to Israel for trial.
Mossad operatives posed as an El Al airline crew, drugged Eichmann, and secretly flew him to Jerusalem, where he stood trial for his crimes against humanity in 1961.
The operation remains one of Mossad’s most daring and was immortalized in the film Operation Finale (2018).
2. Operation Diamond
In 1966, during the height of the Cold War, Mossad pulled off a bold coup by persuading Iraqi Air Force Captain Munir Redfa to defect with his MiG-21 fighter jet.
As a Christian in Muslim-majority Iraq, Redfa faced systemic discrimination. Mossad seized this opportunity, turning his discontent into cooperation. The MiG-21, a cutting-edge Soviet aircraft, was flown to Israel and analyzed, providing invaluable intelligence. In exchange, Mossad ensured Redfa’s family’s safe escape and a new life abroad.
This operation not only benefited Israel but also strengthened the alliance with the U.S., giving NATO a strategic advantage during the Cold War.
Redfa’s story was portrayed in the film The Angel (2018).
3. Operation Wrath of God
The 1972 Munich Olympics marked one of the darkest days in sports history when Palestinian terrorists murdered 11 Israeli athletes.
Prime Minister Golda Meir’s decision not to negotiate led to Operation Wrath of God, a covert mission to track down and eliminate those responsible for the massacre. This campaign transformed Israeli counterterrorism, reshaping its approach to protecting the nation.
One of Mossad’s most notorious assassinations during this operation was that of Ali Hassan Salameh, a key figure behind the Munich attack, killed by a car bomb in Beirut in 1979.
The operation’s tension and moral complexity were dramatized in the film Munich (2005).
4. Operation Moses
In the 1980s, Ethiopia’s Jewish community faced famine and persecution, trapped by a government that refused to let them leave, using them as pawns in negotiations with Israel.
In response, Mossad launched Operation Moses, a covert mission to rescue around 8,000 Ethiopian Jews. Agents infiltrated Sudan, where they set up a decoy hotel near the Red Sea. Posing as hotel staff and guests, they maintained cover by hosting surreal Christmas parties in a Muslim-majority country. This enabled the safe blending of Ethiopian Jews among guests and their subsequent extraction with the help of the Israeli Navy. Efforts to rescue Ethiopian Jews continued into the 1990s.
The mission’s legacy lives on in films like The Red Sea Diving Resort (2019), a fictionalized retelling of these events.
5. The Modern Era: Precision in Tehran
On July 31, 2024, Ismail Haniyeh, a top Hamas leader, was assassinated in Tehran. While many details remain classified, this surgical strike exemplified Mossad’s extraordinary ability to operate deep in hostile territory.
Mossad reportedly placed a bodyguard close to Haniyeh, posing as a trusted ally, allowing agents to carry out the assassination with remarkable precision. This operation underscored the agency’s cutting-edge human intelligence and covert capabilities.
By Way of Deception, Thou Shalt Do War
The Mossad’s motto, “By way of deception, thou shalt do war,” encapsulates the agency’s core philosophy: using cunning and covert action to defend the nation in a hostile world, a perspective highlighted in Stefan's conversation with the former Mossad agent.
As global threats evolve and grow increasingly complex, Mossad’s combination of human intelligence, covert operations, and precision actions continues to influence international security and diplomacy. Its track record underscores the critical role intelligence agencies play, not only in protecting Israel but also in supporting security efforts with wider regional and international implications.
Alexandra Tompson
Editor | Lawyer (Admitted in New York; England & Wales)
