Mossad is the Israeli’s intelligence-gathering agency responsible for collecting information used in protecting the Israeli from external aggression. Headquartered in the city of Tel Aviv, this organization was established in 1951 to primarily gather intelligence and eliminate any form of threat to this nation. Israel, as a nation, was founded in 1948 by the United Nation to help settle the Jews who had suffered a lot in various parts of the world, especially in some parts of Europe, during the Second World War (Oren, Kfir, & Englesberg, 2014).
The creation of the nation of Israel in the middle of the Arab world was strongly opposed by the neighboring countries. As such, the nation had many enemies that considered it an intruder that had to be eliminated to liberate the Arab world. On the other hand, the Israelites felt that this was their ancestral home and had all the rights to live in this region and protect themselves at all costs. Mossad, therefore, had to develop effective espionage tradecraft that would help ensure the survival of this nation.
Mossad has eight departments each responsible for specific tasks to ensure that the country is protected. It is not clear how these eight departments operate. However, it is possible to outline the responsibility of this agency based on what they have done in the past. One of the primary roles of this agency is to collect intelligence both from its enemies and friends (Bar-Zohar, 2016). From the enemy, this agency tries to investigate the activities to determine if there is any form of threat that they should take care of before it harms the nation of Israel. When dealing with its enemies, Mossad uses its agents who infiltrate the camps of the enemies to collect information relevant to Israel.
The agency sometimes uses the money to convince corrupt agents of the enemy camps to reveal important information that they need from the enemy (Vargo, 2015). When dealing with friends, Mossad would engage in consultations and collaborative intelligence gathering to collect the desired information. This agency sometimes resort to stealing information they need when they are left with the limited option of getting what they need
Mossad is also responsible for counterterrorism activities, especially the threat posed by some of the neighboring countries such as Iraq, Iran, and Palestine. The agency uses some of the most advanced technologies to monitor the activities of the enemies and to determine if there are any preparations to attack the country (McGeough, 2013). Once it is detected that there is an attack either organized by a country or terror group, Mossad passes the information to the Israeli military unit to prepare for a counteroffensive attack or preemptive attack.
Mossad is known to have conducted a number of high profile assassinations, especially when dealing with leaders of terror groups that target Israel (Vilasi, 2014). It may not be easy to locate and neutralize an enemy that is given protection by an enemy government.
For instance, most of the terror groups that often attack Israel have a close relationship with the enemy camps. They receive protection and support from the government. In most of the cases, Mossad is forced to organize for the attacks in Israel and execute them in the enemy country such as Palestine through aerial attacks (Thomas, 2015). The agency is known for its precision, swiftness, and efficiency when executing their plans.
References
Bar-Zohar, M. (2016). Mossad. New York, NY: Jaico Publishing House.
McGeough, P. (2013). Kill khalid: The failed Mossad assassination of Khalid Mishal and the rise of Hamas. New York, NY: New Press.
Oren, R., Kfir, M., & Englesberg, R. (2014). Sylvia Rafael: The life and death of a Mossad spy. London, UK: Springer.
Thomas, G. (2015). Gideon’s spies: The secret history of the Mossad. London, UK: McMillan.
Vargo, M. E. (2015). The Mossad: Six landmark missions of the Israeli intelligence agency, 1960/1990. Hoboken, NJ: McFarland & Company.
Vilasi, C. (2014). The History of Mossad. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley and Sons.