Zvi Zamir, the fourth Director of the Mossad (1968-1974), passed away last night; he was 98.
Zamir, a member of the generation of 1948, served as a commander in the Palmach and the IDF in the War of Independence. After lengthy and significant service in the IDF, in the framework of which he commanded the Givati Brigade, and served as the Head of Southern Command and the IDF Attaché in London, Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, in 1968, appointed him Director of the Mossad.
His tenure as Director of the Mossad were characterized by extensive action, while dealing with significant challenges, especially the fight against Palestinian terrorism around the world and the military threat to the State of Israel, which peaked with the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War.
Zamir led a determined and initiative-taking approach in the State of Israel’s fight against Palestinian terrorism which was strengthening at that time. Under his command, the Mossad led daring intelligence-gathering and counter-terrorism operations, including operations around the world to strike the leaders of the ‘Black September’ organization that was responsible for the 1972 murder of Israeli Olympic athletes in Munich.
Zamir saw the Mossad as being responsible for gathering intelligence and issuing warnings of war in light of the Egyptian and Syrian military threats to the State of Israel. During his tenure as Director of the Mossad, the organization expanded its clandestine links with countries in the region and recruited many sources, the most prominent among them being ‘the Angel’ whose investigation Zamir was personally involved in for years, including on the eve of the war and upon receiving the dramatic warning of its outbreak.
During the war, Zamir played a crucial role around the war table, which led to a strengthening of the Mossad’s standing in the intelligence and security community and vis-à-vis the political echelon, which continues up to the present.
Under Zamir’s command, the Mossad underwent far-reaching changes regarding its staff, operations and technology, which have its activities and the implementation of its missions until the present.
Statement from the Mossad office: “The Mossad family bows its head at the passing of a modest man who was imbued with values and who believed in the personal responsibility of the agency’s commanders and employees, in their various professions, as well as in its integrity and striving for contact. He was a model and inspiration of a brave and involved commander with integrity, whose heart and words were in synch, and who was always concerned about the good of the country and its security”.
Yihi Zichro Baruch.
