A TWO-HEADED MOSSAD
(Commentary by Ron Ben-Yishai, Yediot Ahronot, 4 March 98, p.A7)

The man whom the Prime Minister would like to see as Mossad chief is
Major-General Amiram Levine, his former commander in the IDF General
Staff Reconnaissance unit.

But Amiram Levine does not yet have any intelligence experience on the
international stage. Moreover, he cannot simply leave the Northern
Command overnight. It should also be recalled that the Prime Minister's
immediate and primary objective is to restore the Mossad and its agents
to their normal performance. In other words -- to cut losses and minimize
the chances of any future mishap.

To this end, he needs an experienced hand. A man who thoroughly knows the
work of the Mossad, possesses the confidence of the organization, and can
hit the ground running. For this reason, Netanyahu has chosen to adopt a
method whose success was proven in the GSS (in the wake of the bus #300
affair). He has enlisted a Mossad veteran to provide the organization
with two years of experienced management and stability -- until Amiram
Levine is fully trained for the task, or until another appropriate
candidate comes forth from within the organization.

The choice of Ephraim Halevy as a "stabilizer" for the Mossad was almost
natural; after recent consultations, it became clear to Netanyahu that
nobody within the organization is yet ripe for the post. And, for one
reason or another, he cannot bring back any of the Mossad's previous
chiefs: Shabtai Shavit, for instance, does not want the job; Yitzhak Hofi
disagrees with Netanyahu's political line, and so on.

By comparison, from Netanyahu's perspective, Ephraim Halevy, Israel's
Brussels-based ambassador to the European Union, is perfect for the post
in almost every possible way. Over decades, Halevy served in various
Mossad capacities, and many senior Mossad members know and admire his
professional capability. He oversaw the immigration of Ethiopia's Jews to
Israel. As deputy Mossad chief, Halevy was an architect of the peace with
Jordan during Rabin's tenure. He also proved himself as an effective
mediator when the Masha'al affair exploded. Thus, nobody can better
rehabilitate Israel's security ties with King Hussein and his staff than
Halevy.

None have challenged Halevy's vast and varied experience with covert
international relations, or the reliability of his judgment. At the same
time, he lacks operational experience, and those who know him as a
manager have cast doubt on his ability to conduct the operational and
organizational "house-cleaning" which the Mossad now urgently requires.
Still, as noted, what Halevy must now do is take the wheel and stabilize
the ship. Reforms can be discussed later.

As for Amiram Levine: Already six months ago, Defense Minister Yitzhak
Mordechai recommended that Netanyahu appoint Levine as either the head or
the deputy head of the Mossad's operations branch -- in order to prepare
him for the top spot, and to test his abilities. The Prime Minister
appears to have followed this advice. Although Levine will not
immediately leave the Northern Command, the Defense Minister and the
Chief-of-Staff will soon have to prepare for his replacement. This means
that the Defense Minister will have to inform the Cabinet of his
candidate for the next IDF chief-of-staff sooner than he had originally
planned -- so that the designated chief-of-staff can be partner to the
next round of senior IDF appointments (which will take place when Levine
departs for the Mossad). At present, the leading candidate is
Major-General Matan Vilnai. Moshe Ya'alon, the current head of Military
Intelligence, will likely replace Amiram Levine as OC Northern Command.

.

From owner-israel-mideast@PANKOW.INTER.NET.IL  Wed Mar  4 13:59:59 1998
Subject:      A Two-Headed Mossad - "Yediot", Mar 4, 1998
Status: O
X-Status: 

  =====================================================================
        Information Division, Israel Foreign Ministry - Jerusalem
              Mail all Queries to   ask@israel-info.gov.il
                    URL: http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il
                         gopher://israel-info.gov.il
  =====================================================================

         Note: The translations of articles from the Hebrew press
               are prepared by the Government Press Office
              as a service to foreign journalists in Israel.
                 They express the views of the authors.
         --------------------------------------------------------