Historical Dictionary of Israeli Intelligence

After Hamshari was killed, his wife tried to reconstruct his actions

of the preceding few days. She recalled that she and her husband had

arranged to meet a man purporting to be an Italian journalist for an

interview in a small café. The interview took place, but was never

published in any newspaper. It was during this conversation between

the “Italian journalist” and the Hamsharis that the Kidon team mem-

ber broke into their apartment and installed the explosive device. See

also TERRORISM; WRATH OF GOD OPERATION.

HARARI, MICHAEL (MIKE) (1927– ).Born in Tel Aviv, Harari

served in the Palmah underground militia and in the Information

Serviceprior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.

Thereafter he joined the Israeli intelligence community. In the 1950s

he served in the Israeli Security Agency(ISA) as a security officer

responsible for Israel’s Foreign Ministry installations worldwide.

His next job was in the Mossad. In 1972 he was appointed by its di-

rector, Zvi Zamir, to head a special team appointed to assassinate

Palestinian terrorists who had caused the Munich massacreof Is-

raeli athletes at the Olympic Games in September 1972. He pursued

this mission—known as the Wrath of God Operation—until the

Lillehammer Affair. He was in Norway during the failed attempt to

kill Ali Hassan Salamehbut managed to slip out of that country

with a woman friend. Back in Israel he continued to work for the

Mossad for a few more years despite his responsibility for the Lille-

hammer failure.

Harari retired from the Mossad in 1978, ostensibly to embark on

a private career in the insurance sector. Harari moved his base of

operations to Panama, where he became a close adviser to General

Manuel Noriega. Harari trained Noriega’s bodyguards and was

even involved in arms selling to Panama. It is believed that he re-

turned some favors to Israeli intelligence from Panama as a private

individual.

HAREL, ISSER (1912–2003).Born Isser Halperin in Vitebsk, Byelorus-

sia, in 1930 he immigrated to Palestine and settled in a kibbutz. In the

1940s Harel joined the Information Service(Shai) of the Haganah un-

derground militia. In the Shai, he was in charge of the archive, collect-

ing information on the British, the Arabs, and especially on dissident

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