Mossad
From Metapedia
The Mossad is the national intelligence agency of the State of Israel.
The Mossad is responsible for intelligence collection, counter-terrorism and covert operations. It is one of the main Intelligence Community entities in Israel (along with Aman (military intelligence) and Shin Bet (internal security)), but its director reports directly to the Prime Minister.
[edit] Organization
From its headquarters in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, the Mossad oversees a staff estimated at 1200 personnel, although it may have numbered up to 2000 in the late 1980s.[1] The Mossad is a civilian service, and does not use military ranks, although most of its staff have served in the Israel Defense Forces as part of Israel's compulsory draft system, and many of them are officers. It is assumed to consist of eight different departments.
The largest is Collections, tasked with many aspects of conducting espionage overseas. Employees in the Collections Department operate under a variety of covers, including diplomatic and unofficial.[1] Their field intelligence officers, called katsas, are similar to case officers of the CIA. Thirty to forty operate at a time, mainly in Europe and the Middle East.[2]
The Political Action and Liaison Department is responsible for working both with allied foreign intelligence services, and with nations that have no normal diplomatic relations with Israel.[1]
Among the departments of the Mossad is the Special Operations Division or '"Metsada" (see Kidon), which is involved in assassination, paramilitary operations, sabotage, and psychological warfare.[1]
Psychological warfare is also a concern of the Lochamah Psichologit Department, which conducts propaganda and deception activities as well.[1]
Additionally, the Mossad has a Research Department, tasked with intelligence production, and a Technology Department concerned with the development of tools for Mossad activities.[3]
[edit] See aslo
