Mystique of Israeli Spy Agency Suffers After String of Setbacks

A string of highly publicized military and intelligence failures over the past year has left some Israelis wondering if luck, a key ingredient in the work of soldiers and spies, has deserted their once-vaunted security branches.

The setbacks--including recent disclosures that a former spymaster for the Mossad intelligence agency fabricated reports about Syria for years; a botched covert operation in Jordan; and accidents that have killed dozens of soldiers serving in Lebanon--have caused worry and uncertainty among many Israelis.

“It’s very depressing, and there is a sort of soul-searching going on,” said Joseph Alpher, who heads the Jerusalem office of the American Jewish Committee. “Mystical people are saying Israel is under a curse. Others say a national depression is causing our senior security people to not be concentrating on what they’re doing. And others think it’s all a coincidence.”

The case of Yehuda Gil, the former Mossad official who fed the government false information about Syria for up to 20 years, has hit home with special force in a nation whose intelligence services--especially the Mossad, its foreign operations branch--are viewed with something akin to reverence.

Alpher and other analysts of Israeli military and security affairs say the country’s shock over the case has focused attention on factors that may have contributed to the recent setbacks, ranging from changes occurring in Israeli society to failings within the Mossad.

To begin with, several analysts said, in an era of peacemaking between Israel and its neighbors, fewer of the brightest young people are drawn to careers in the intelligence and military services, reducing the pool of available talent. For those who do sign up, their jobs may seem less crucial--and glamorous--than in years past.

Reserve soldiers also often try these days to skip out of their annual duty, a shirking of national responsibility that once would have been unthinkable in Israel.

“These are all transformations in Israeli society, and some of them are inevitable because of the peace process and greater prosperity here,” said Alpher, who is a former senior official with the Mossad. “But they may be influencing factors” in the recent problems affecting the military and intelligence services.

Troubles inside the Mossad itself--from recruitment failures to lax supervision of agents and operators--have also played a role in the Gil affair and the agency’s bungled attempt in Jordan in September to assassinate Khaled Meshaal, a leader of the militant Islamic group Hamas.

The two setbacks have helped tarnish the image of an agency that has long enjoyed the overwhelming public support.

That may not be all bad. Yossi Melman, an Israeli expert in military and intelligence issues, said it is high time that Israelis adopt a more skeptical, realistic attitude toward their intelligence services. The occasional failures should be publicized along with the successes, he argued.

But the Gil affair is also likely to cause at least temporary credibility problems for the Mossad in its dealings with foreign intelligence agencies, Melman said, strengthening what he described as existing assumptions that its analyses are sometimes skewed to serve Israel’s political aims.

“That doesn’t mean that agencies like the CIA won’t continue to meet with the Mossad, but they will probably be more suspicious of its information,” said Melman, the author of several books about Israel’s intelligence services.

The recent troubles may also have done damage to any deterrent capability that the Mossad’s image and reputation have on foreign groups or governments seeking to harm Israel.

“If the mystique is damaged, it’s likely to create more daring aspirations on the other side,” Melman said.

Of perhaps equal concern, in the aftermath of the Meshaal attack, a furious King Hussein of Jordan forced Israel to reveal secret details of its covert operations, including the weapon its agents used to spray a deadly chemical into Meshaal’s ear, and the toxin’s antidote.

Meshaal has recovered from the attack, which also led to Israel’s release of dozens of Arab prisoners, including its most prized political prisoner, Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin.

Analysts say the recent failures point to a need for stricter standards, more supervision and other changes in the Mossad, but they say it is far from certain that these will occur. Israeli leaders have proven reluctant to push through such reforms in the past, and the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considered unlikely to be an exception.

For the moment, the government is awaiting the conclusions of two panels investigating the incidents. A parliamentary committee on Israel’s secret services is scrutinizing the Gil affair and is expected to release its findings within two weeks, according to lawmaker Yossi Sarid, who serves on the committee.

A three-member commission appointed by the government is also close to completing its investigation into the attempt to assassinate Meshaal.

Top Mossad officials, including agency head Danny Yatom, have been warned that they could be hurt by its conclusions.

The ramifications of the Gil case are significant.

“We have had corruption problems and operational failures in the Mossad before,” said Ron Ben-Yishai, a military and intelligence analyst for the daily Yediot Aharonot. “But here for the first time, we have a case that touches the foundations of the Mossad--its information-gathering role--and shows fraud there.”

For many years, Gil was the top Mossad official responsible for monitoring Syria. Even after his retirement in 1989, he stayed on as a consultant to the agency because he was considered to have an excellent source in the Syrian military. For years, according to media accounts and various official assessments, he faked reports suggesting that President Hafez Assad was not committed to peace negotiations with Israel.

Gil, who is on trial behind closed doors in Tel Aviv, is charged with fraud, embezzlement and passing information with the intention of undermining state security.

He has pleaded innocent to the charges, despite reports that he confessed to many of the specifics shortly after his arrest in November.

Gil’s attorney, Yigal Shapira, disputes that any fabrication occurred during Gil’s earlier stint with the Mossad, saying that his client only wanted to prove himself when he was called back to the agency after his retirement.

Shapira said Gil “recycled” old reports when pressed for new information from his Syrian source and never intended any harm.

Israeli officials have said the false information contributed to tensions between the two states in August 1996 when the Syrians moved troops to the Israeli border, lending credence to the idea that Syria was planning an offensive on the Israeli-held Golan Heights.