Mossad held an event commemorating 50 years of the Yom Kippur War attended by Mossad Director David Barnea, the agency's senior command forum and staff.
The event began with a minute of silence in memory of the late Shabtai Shavit, the seventh director of the Mossad, who died earlier this week. Interviews with Shavit were shown, providing a rare insight into Mossad's contribution before and during the war from his personal perspective.
In his remarks, Mossad Director Barnea referred to the importance and lessons that were derived from the war and that are also relevant to our time.
Barnea warned that “we must not fail to address the existential threat facing the State of Israel. We must not underestimate the enemy and his capabilities. We must not exaggerate the support of our allies in times of crisis. We must not fall into another concept. We must act to demonstrate our deterrent power. We must fight for normalization. "A state that disregards its aspirations for peace is destined to be dragged into war."
Barnea also addressed the concept to which the State of Israel, including the intelligence and security community, was beholden on the eve of the war, and how the lessons of the war have affected, and continue to affect, operational and intelligence activity . of Mossad until today. «We must not fall into a concept. Even today we have fallen in strength, depth of intelligence and powerful capabilities; "The order of the day is humility in intelligence and skepticism."
Fifty years after the war, Mossad has decided, for the first time, to publish a book containing unique and historical research.
The book reveals much information provided by the excellent original intelligence sources operated by the Mossad in the years before the war, especially the strategic intelligence source codenamed “the Angel.”
During the event, certificates of appreciation were presented to former Mossad directors Zvi Zamir and Efraim Halevy, as well as Mossad retirees: Zvi Zamir's personal assistant, Freddy Eini; Shmulik Goren, who was head of Mossad's European Office in the Zomet section during the war; and the Angel's handler, Dubi. The certificate of recognition awarded to Zvi Zamir was presented by Mossad Director Barnea to his son, Professor Danny Zamir, who accepted it with great emotion.