practical purposes, it wasthe Political Department, although in fact
not all of the Political Department was transferred to the Mossad.
However, it soon underwent a reorganization process.
On 8 February 1951 Ben-Gurion, after consulting with Foreign Min-
ister Moshe Sharettand Mossad director Shiloah, decided to reorgan-
ize the Mossad. The Political Department was to be dismantled and its
intelligence collecting and operational activities in foreign countries
were to be assigned to the Mossad. In March 1951 it was made a part of
the Prime Minister’s Office, reporting directly to the prime minister.
The immediate result was that senior operations officers of the Political
Department collectively submitted their resignations in what became
known as the Spies’ Revolt. The revolt did not last long, and the day it
broke, 1 April 1951, is considered the Mossad’s official birth date.
That day, the operations branch of the Political Department was re-
placed in the Mossad by the Foreign Intelligence Authority (Rashut
Le’Modi’in Be’Hul), also known by its code names Rashut (Author-
ity) or Rashut Green (Green Authority). The authority was headed by
Haim Ya’ari. Operational activities and operating spies in Arab coun-
tries were assigned to MI.
Over the years, the Mossad was given several more tasks previ-
ously fulfilled by Israel’s other intelligence agencies, such as han-
dling Israeli spies abroad. This mission was assigned to the Mossad
in 1963; until then it had been accomplished by Unit 131of MI. In
1963 the Mossad was given the Hebrew name Mossad Le’Modi’in
Ule’Tafkidim Meyuhadim (Institute for Intelligence and Special Op-
erations).
The Mossad is a civilian organization. Its employees do not have
military ranks, although most of them have served in the Israel De-
fense Forces (IDF) and many even served in MI. Its current staff is
estimated at 1,200 to 2,000 employees. The Mossad is organized into
several main units, with headquarters in Tel Aviv:- Tsometis the largest branch, with responsibility for collecting in-
telligence information, mainly by its case officers who activate
spies and operatives in target countries. - Nevioth(formerly known as Queshet) collects intelligence for the
Mossad via break-ins, street surveillance, listening devices, and
other covert methods.
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