The Need For An Intelligence Agency
Values of the Mossad
Operations
Helping Allies
The Iranian Network
Hamas’s European Network
Other Developments

The Need For An Intelligence Agency

When the State of Israel was declared, David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, decided it was necessary to create intelligence agencies to operate on behalf of the nascent state. On June 7, 1948, he held his first meeting on this matter with intelligence officials. In July 1949, Reuven Shiloah proposed establishing the Central Institute for Coordination of the Intelligence and Security Services. The goal of the proposal was to achieve more coordination and direction of the intelligence activity.

On December 13, 1949, Ben Gurion approved the idea and appointed Shiloah to establish and head the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (HaMossad LeModi’in U’LeTafkidim Meyuchadim), more commonly known as the Mossad.

“Secret”

22 Kislev 5710

13 December 1949

To: The Foreign Ministry

From: The Prime Minister

Upon my instructions, an institute is being established to coordinate state intelligence agencies (the Military Intelligence Department, the Foreign Ministry State Department, the Shin Bet, etc.).

I have charged Reuven Shiloah, Foreign Ministry advisor for special projects, to organize and head the institute. Reuven Shiloah will report to me. He will act upon my instructions and will submit regular working reports to me. For administrative purposes, his office will be part of the Foreign Ministry.

I have instructed R. Shiloah to submit a manpower and budget proposal for 1950–1951 for approximately IL20,000, IL5,000 of which will be used for special operations, contingent on my prior authorization.

You are hereby requested to add this sum to the Foreign Ministry budget for 1950–1951.

(Signed) D. Ben Gurion

On March 2, 1951, Ben-Gurion ordered Shiloah to set up the “Directorate” to take all overseas intelligence operations under its wing.

The office was originally in the “Red House” on Yarkon Street in Tel Aviv. (There is now a small sign in a garden there commemorating the history of the location.) The headquarters later moved to the Foreign Ministry offices in Sarona, where the Kirya (military headquarters) is today.

Shiloah served for about two years and was succeeded as director by Isser Harel, who set the tone and agenda for the organization until 1963.

The organization’s motto is: “Where no wise direction is, the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 11,14).

Values of the Mossad

We who serve in the Mossad share the belief that service in the organization is a national mission.
We perform this mission identifying with the values of the nation and statehood and with the goals of the Mossad.
We adhere to values of justice, integrity, morality and simplicity, reliability and personal responsibility, discipline and secrecy.
We cultivate excellence, task orientation, and dedication.
We encourage initiative, creativity, resourcefulness, and valor, and are open to varied opinions and criticism.
Mossad employees are the source of its strength, and the organization invests in cultivating them, developing their capabilities, and instilling them with a feeling of team spirit.
The Mossad leadership obliges its members to lead and motivate, undertake full commanding responsibility and realize this in a constructive manner, provide backup, delegate authority, lead by example and serve as a source of inspiration.

Operations

Over the years, the Mossad expanded into many fields (the most prominent of which were):

Covert intelligence gathering beyond Israel’s borders.
Developing and maintaining special diplomatic and other covert relations with countries that avoid overt contact with Israel, such as the Mossad’s involvement in covert negotiations that preceded the peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan.
Preventing the development and procurement of non-conventional weapons by hostile countries.
Preventing terrorist acts against Israeli targets abroad.
Bringing Jews home from countries where official Aliya agencies are not allowed to operate.
Producing strategic, political, and operational intelligence.
Planning and carrying out special operations beyond Israel’s borders.

The agency uses both HUMINT (human intelligence) and SIGINT (signals intelligence). Some of the Mossad’s operations include:

These are only a sample of the Mossad’s activities, which include collecting information, covert operations, assassinations, and liaising with other intelligence agencies.

Helping Allies

The Mossad has also played a role in thwarting terrorist attacks in other countries. For example, the Mossad informed the FBI and CIA in August 2001 that 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 that it had picked up indications of a “large-scale target” in the United States and that Americans would be “very vulnerable.” According to a senior Israeli security official, “They had no specific information about what was being planned but linked the plot to Osama bin Laden and told the Americans that there were strong grounds for suspecting Iraqi involvement.”

In July 2018, the Mossad helped foil an Iranian-backed terror plot in Paris by providing intelligence to security officials in Germany, France, and Belgium. Three suspects, including an Iranian diplomat, were subsequently arrested for planning to bomb a rally organized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran. This was just months after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a meeting of NATO ambassadors that Israeli intelligence helped foil dozens of major terror attacks across Europe.

Europol, Europe’s police agency, subsequently signed a cooperation agreement with Israel, its first with a non-European state, to fight crime and terrorism.

Former Mossad head Yossi Cohen revealed in 2025 that the Mossad saved hundreds of lives when it informed Australia that a bomb was en route to an Etihad aircraft scheduled to depart Sydney for Dubai or Abu Dhabi.

The Iranian Network

In October 2025, the Mossad revealed new details about a global terror network directed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, which it says has been responsible for multiple attacks on Jewish and Israeli sites in Western countries since October 7, 2023.

According to Mossad, the network is led by senior IRGC-Quds Force commander Sardar Ammar, who oversees about 11,000 operatives engaged in covert operations. The group has conducted arson and vandalism attacks on Jewish institutions and businesses to intimidate Jewish communities and create conditions for potential escalations. It has also planned attacks on Jewish communal leaders.

Among several plots exposed through cooperation with foreign intelligence services, Mossad highlighted three major cases:

Greece (2024): Seven suspects, including two Iranians, were arrested for arson attacks on a synagogue and an Israeli-owned hotel in Athens.
Germany (2025): A man was arrested in Denmark for spying on Jewish sites and individuals in Berlin on behalf of Iranian intelligence.
Australia (2024): Iran was blamed for two arson attacks on Jewish targets in Melbourne and Sydney, carried out by criminal gangs; Canberra later expelled Iran’s ambassador.

Mossad said the network hid Iran’s role by using non-Iranian proxies, organized crime groups, and strict compartmentalization. Intelligence officials described many of the operations as amateurish and poorly executed, despite the network’s broad reach.

Hamas’s European Network

The Mossad publicly revealed that Hamas has built a widespread terror network across Europe, largely directed by operatives based in Turkey. According to the agency, cooperation with European intelligence services has recently disrupted plots targeting Israeli and Jewish civilians, uncovering weapons stockpiles and leading to multiple arrests in Germany, Austria, and other countries.

A major bust in Vienna uncovered handguns and explosives linked to Mohammad Naim, son of senior Hamas official Bassem Naim, who recently met him in Qatar—an encounter Israeli intelligence believes may signal high-level backing for European terror operations.

Investigators are also examining Hamas activity in Turkey, long a key hub for the group’s global operations. One prominent operative, Burhan al-Khatib, was arrested in Germany after operating from Turkey.

European governments have expanded their crackdown to include charities and religious institutions suspected of serving as Hamas fronts. Mossad said that since October 7, Hamas has intensified its efforts to build sleeper cells abroad, and Israel is working with partners to disrupt dozens of plots worldwide.

Other Developments

The Mossad teamed up with venture capital firm Sequoia Capital in June 2017 to launch a new technology fund, Libertad. The project aims to take advantage of Israel’s start-up atmosphere and ensure the Mossad and IDF retain technological superiority over their enemies.

The Mossad welcomed its first recruit from the ultra-Orthodox Haredi Jewish community in April 2018. Many Haredim receive exemptions from Israeli national military service, but some still choose to serve.

In 2022, the Mossad appointed a woman for the first time to head the Intelligence Directorate. A. (her name can’t be published) joins another woman, K., who is chief of Iran operations, as the two most senior females in the agency. They both are deeply involved in Israel’s top priority issue – preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Sources: The Mossad.
Herb Keinon. Israel's Mossad is looking for a few good startups, Jerusalem Post, (June 27, 2017).
First haredi man to serve in Israel’s Mossad agency, JNS, (April 26, 2018).
Vickiie Oliphant, “Terror Attack Foiled: Plot To Bomb Iran Rally Halted After Car With Explosives Found,” Express, (July 3, 2018).
David Gerstman, “Israel Helps the West with Its Security Needs; When will the West Allow Israel to Defend Itself?” The Tower, (July 27, 2018).
Richard A. Serrano and John-Thor Dahlburg, “Officials Told of ‘Major Assault’ Plans,” Los Angeles Times, (September 20, 2001).
David Wastell and Philip Jacobson, “Israeli security issued urgent warning to CIA of large-scale terror attacks,” Telegraph, (September 16, 2001).
Yossi Melman, “Who Are the Women Leading the Mossad’s Battle Against Iran?” Haaretz, (August 24, 2022).
Lazar Berman, “Mossad reveals details of Iranian terror network behind attacks on Jewish sites worldwide,” Times of Israel, (October 26, 2025).
Ariel Kahana, “‘The bomb was on its way to the plane’: Mossad's Yossi Cohen reveals how Israel prevented an attack in a Western country,” Israel Hayom, (October 28, 2025).
Itamar Eichner, “Mossad: Hamas expanding terror network across Europe,” Ynet, (November 19, 2025).

Israel Intelligence & Security: The Mossad