what happened in the past two days on the palestinian-israeli front is something that calls for astonishment, fear, pride, horror, and many other mixed feelings, but there is no doubt that the palestinian hamas strike demonstrated the failure of israel and its terrifying intelligence apparatus (!)
in anticipating the fatal strike, despite all its complications, the massive preparations it required, the planning and recruitment of guerrillas, and the resulting surprise that caught the entire israeli regime off guard, with its momentum and the resulting deaths and prisoners on the israeli side in particular, despite all the previous claims of the mossad as compared to knowledge, control, power, and infiltration among the ranks of the palestinians!
in the late 1960s, shabtai shavit was an undercover spy working for the mossad in iran. in the 1990s, he became head of the israeli intelligence service, and played a major role in achieving the peace treaty between israel and jordan in 1994, and king hussein personally thanked him for his role!
serving under three prime ministers, shavit led the mossad and israel through the end of the cold war, the collapse of the soviet union, the first gulf war, the rise of global terrorism and nuclear proliferation, and a period of intermittent rapprochement with the palestinians.
he also had a hand in many assassinations that targeted palestinian political and guerrilla fi gures. shabtai shavit was born in 1939. he was the son of a school principal. he learned arabic as a child from palestinian olive pickers. he received his education in haifa and served in the navy. he subsequently obtained a bachelor’s degree in middle eastern studies from the hebrew university and a master’s degree from harvard.
he was recruited by the mossad in 1964, and remained there for 32 years. after arab forces surprised israel at the start of the yom kippur war in 1973, he helped organize mossad’s defense in the knesset against accusations that the intelligence services had failed.
“the mossad was the only entity in the intelligence community that did what was required of it and beyond that,” he told haaretz in 2013.
shavit retired in 1996, headed an anti-terrorism institute, and provided advice to several parties, as a former head of the mossad. he was known for his caution, and he once said: “i have never regretted the things i did not say.” in subsequent years (and this is what concerns us) he became more frank when he expressed his support for the two state solution to end the israeli conflict with the palestinians, asking: “why do we live here? why do our grandchildren continue to fight wars?
“what is this madness in which the land is more important than human life?” shavit strongly opposed the efforts of benjamin netanyahu, the current israeli prime minister, calling him “my so-called leader” and a prime minister who does not make decisions like a statesman.
shabtai shavit died a short time ago at the age of 84. we wonder with shavit, as awareness returns to him before his death, despite all his crimes: when will israel’s leaders rationalize and realize that it is impossible to eliminate, or even silence, an entire people who want to regain their freedom, dignity, and homeland?
in a comment by well-known journalist thomas friedman, which he wrote yesterday: “when i usually need accurate news about israel, i turn to my friend nahum barna, a veteran writer for the israeli newspaper yedioth.”
“his answer astonished me. he said: ‘this is the worst day i can remember from a military point of view in the history of israel, including the blunder on yom kippur, which was terrible!!.”
there are those among us who say that the entire process was agreed upon between israel and hamas!!