Historical Dictionary of Israeli Intelligence

the border to Jordan, whence he was supposed to proceed to Syria.

However, Buqa’i fell victim to a genuine “fellow” prisoner who

discerned something odd in his behavior as a Muslim Arab. In the

Old City of Jerusalem, then under the Jordanian regime, he was de-

tained for interrogation. Buqa’i was then transferred to a prison in

Amman, where he was tortured, tried, and hanged on 3 August

1949. His controller in Israeli intelligence was Ya’acov Nimrodi.
      See also MISTA’ARAVIM.

BUREAU OF SCIENTIFIC LIAISON/LISHKA LE’KISHREI

MADA (LAKAM). Created in 1957 under the directorship of

Binyamin Blumberg (1957–1981), LAKAM was initially called the

Office of Special Assignments. Its mission was to collect scientific

and technical intelligence by whatever means necessary, including

stealing from or bribing open or covert sources. LAKAM offices

were established in the United States in Boston, Los Angeles, New

York, and Washington, from which technical journals were shipped

to Israel on a weekly basis. The organization was under surveillance

for a long time by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

LAKAM’s best-known success was obtaining the blueprint of the

French Mirage-III fighter aircraft from Swiss engineer Alfred

Frauenknechtin 1968. Thereafter, its successes were minor. The

LAKAM database contained the names of American Jewish scien-

tists, including Dr. Zalman M. Shapiro, who was the president ofNu-

clear Materials and Equipment Corporation (NUMEC). Shapiro

was a pioneer in the nuclear industry in the United States and a strong

supporter of Israel. Through NUMEC, LAKAM was able to obtain

uranium for the Israeli nuclear weapons program.

Binyamin Blumberg was succeeded by Rafael (Rafi) Eitan, who

directed LAKAM until 1986. Under Eitan’s directorship, Jonathan

Jay Pollard was led by LAKAM to commit espionage for Israel.

Due to LAKAM’s lack of professionalism, Pollard’s identity was un-

covered and there was a great deal of scandal surrounding the whole

case. LAKAM was disbanded as a result. From its inception, the

Mossadhad been dissatisfied with the unprofessional nature of the

bureau, largely because its agents were not trained as professional in-

telligence officers. A unit of the Israeli Foreign Ministry now obtains

the technological and scientific information previously gathered by

LAKAM.

54 • BUREAU OF SCIENTIFIC LIAISON/LISHKA LE’KISHREI MADA

06-102 (02) A-G.qxd 3/24/06 7:23 AM Page 54